Amel Tuka ambassador of "Oaza Sports Games"

The Association for the Support of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in the Canton of Sarajevo "Oaza" will organize the "Oaza Sports Games 2016" this year. This year's ambassador of the "Oaza Sports Games" is the famous Bosnian-Herzegovinian athlete Amel Tuka, reports Patria agency.

The competitions will be held from October 6 to 9 in Sarajevo, at the Otoka Sarajevo Olympic Pool, in the "Ramiz Salčin" hall – Mojmilo, at the "Safet Zajko" Center for Education, Sport and Recreation, then in the sports hall – Dobrinja, in the Vistafona Sport Club hall – Otoka, and the Radon Plaza Hotel bowling alley.

- Competitors will fight for medals in eight sports disciplines: football, basketball, swimming, athletics, table tennis, bocce, bowling, and MATP – a program for persons with multiple disabilities. At this year's Oaza Sports Games, we expect about 500 competitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad. Participating countries are: Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Sweden, Slovenia, and Saudi Arabia. The goal of this competition is to promote the possibilities and abilities of persons with intellectual disabilities through sport – stated Armin Smajlović, director of the "OAZA" Association.

The "OAZA" Association primarily strives to change people's awareness in order to create an equal status for persons with intellectual disabilities in society, i.e., to fulfill the rights listed in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Bosnia and Herzegovina signed and ratified in 2009, according to which persons with disabilities have the right to sport and recreation.

The main sponsors of the Oaza Sports Games are the non-governmental organization MyRight Sweden, SIDA – Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and FIFH Malmo, a long-term partner of SIO from Sweden. Sponsors of this year's sports games also include the Ministry of Labour, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees of the Canton of Sarajevo, the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo, Lutrija BIH, Lokom, BH Telecom, Olimpijski bazen, MUP KS, AS GROUP, Oaza water, and the Media Content Management (MCM) agency.