The Special Olympics World Summer Games will be held in Athens from June 25 to July 4 2011, bringing together 7,500 Special Olympics Athletes from 185 nations who would compete in 22 Olympic-type sports.

A delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) led by its President, Mahfooz Elahi visited the Islamabad Sports Complex to encourage the athletes for Special Olympics Games 2011.

ICCI President speaking at this occasion said that Athletes have great potential to achieve milestone in Special Olympics. He said that every athlete is actually a winner and we must treat them at par with other normal people.    

President ICCI expressed the hope that Pakistani athletes would do wonders and brings laurels for the country which at present was under great stress due to a number of factors.

On this occasion, Munawar Mughal, Chairman of Founder Group appreciated the efforts of Special Olympics Pakistan for arranging a training camp for the athletes at Islamabad Sport Complex. Pakistan will participate in a total of eight sports including athletics, aquatic, badminton, basketball, bocce, cycling, football and table tennis.

He said that a main objective of these games was to encourage these athletes to play positive role in the society. He said that some special have performed excellently on international level games because of proper attention and caring by their family members.

Special Olympic Games provides great opportunities to show their abilities and help, as a result they feel themselves the part and pared of the society. 

Muhammad Tauseef Zaman, Vice President ICCI was of the view physical activity in people with mental retardation could help them in improving their health, physical function, self-esteem, and behavior.