The Arab Union for Para Sports oversees and develops recognized para sports across the Arab world, ensuring fair play, equal opportunities, and professional standards
More than 100 countries practice swimming for people with disabilities, making it one of the largest, most attractive, and most popular sports in the Paralympic Games. At the 1960 Paralympic Games in Rome, 77 swimmers from 15 countries competed. The sport is administered by the International Paralympic Committee and is open to male and female athletes of all qualifying disabilities, competing in backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, medley, and relay events.
Goalball is played only by blind or visually impaired athletes. The sport was invented in 1946 to help rehabilitate veterans who lost their sight during World War II. The game was invented by Austrian Hans Lorenzen and German Sepp Reindl.
Wheelchair tennis is a technical and tactical sport, similar to its Olympic counterpart, and is played by athletes with disabilities in over 100 countries. Wheelchair tennis competition consists of six events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and quadruple singles and quadruple. Players use sports wheelchairs with adapted wheels to provide better balance and mobility.
Table tennis for people with disabilities is a sport under the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and has featured at every Paralympic Games in Rome since 1960. It is played by athletes in over 100 different countries, and athletes of all physical disabilities, including those with intellectual disabilities, are included. However, visual impairments are excluded from the sport. Players are allowed to compete in standing or seated rows. Both genders can participate in singles, doubles, or team events. Matches consist of five sets of 11 points each and are played in a best-of-five format.
Paralympic athletics is the largest and most popular sport in the Paralympic Games. The sport is open to both men and women with various disabilities and was one of eight sports entered at the 1960 Rome Paralympic Games. It is governed by the International Paralympic Committee and is open to male and female athletes with eligible disabilities. Paralympic athletics encompasses a range of disabilities, including six different types of disabilities: visual impairment, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, brain trauma, short stature, limb deficiency, and impaired muscle tone/range of motion.
Boccia is a precision ball sport designed for individuals with severe physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or neuromuscular conditions. It is a Paralympic sport that emphasizes accuracy, strategy, and tactical placement of leather balls on a court. Players aim to position their red or blue balls closer to a white target ball (the "Jack") than their opponents, competing individually, in pairs, or in teams. Depending on their physical abilities, athletes may throw with their hands, kick, or use assistive devices like ramps. Boccia fosters concentration, planning, and inclusion, making it both a competitive and therapeutic sport.
Through sports, we create equal opportunities for athletes with disabilities to achieve greatness.
Multiple strokes and distances with S/B/SM classifications
Singles and doubles for standing and wheelchair athletes
Team sport for visually impaired athletes relying on sound cues
Complementary sports for blind and visually impaired athletes