Eighth Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament all set for tip-off

The organizing committee of the Fazza Championships for the Disabled announced the schedule for the Eighth Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament Dubai 2016 here today (Wednesday).

The event, which will be staged inside the Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum Hall at Al Ahli Sports Club between April 22 and 29, is: being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council; organized and supervised by the Dubai Club for the Disabled (DCD) with the support of DCD’s strategic partners the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC) and in collaboration with the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW), the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

There will be eight countries participating in this year’s competition, with Great Britain, Japan, Kuwait, Morocco, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Thailand joining host nation the United Arab Emirates.

Details surrounding this eighth edition and the final preparations for it were unveiled at the official launch press conference this (Wednesday) afternoon, when His Excellency Thani Juma Berregad, the Chairman of the Dubai Club for the Disabled and Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Fazza Championships for the Disabled, the tournament director Majid Abdullah Al Usaimi and Hamad Beljafla, the Head of the Public Relations Committee for the tournament and Ahmed Hassan Al Hammadi, the Chairman of the Technical Committee for the Fazza Championships for the Disabled all addressed the gathered media in attendance.

“We’re delighted to organize the Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament for an eighth time and we are looking forward to another world-class competition with many high-level performances to add to the ones we’ve already witnessed in the Fazza Championships for the Disabled overall,” Berregad commented.

“We’re proud of what we have been able to achieve over the years in terms of the standing of this tournament and I wish every success to all of the eight participating teams, but especially – of course – our own national team here in the United Arab Emirates.”

Mohammed Abdullah bin Dalmook, the Director of Corporate Support at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC), said: “The Eighth Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament is an important event because of the participation of some of the best teams in the world in this sport, which – in turn – ensures it will attract a great fan following.

“We have a societal role to play at this tournament and, through our strategic partnership with the Dubai Club for the Disabled, we aim to support our national team squads that strive to register fantastic global achievements and have always shown a high level of determination and resolve to keep the UAE at the very forefront of countries in disability sport worldwide.”

He added: “The support of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, has significantly contributed to the increased awareness of disability sport and we will continue our support for this tournament and all of the other competitions and events associated with the Fazza Championships for the Disabled.

“We always look to attract the very strongest teams and we’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of the participating countries and the UAE team the very best of luck.”

Al Usaimi added: “Since its inception, this Fazza International Tournament has contributed to development of wheelchair basketball through the strong competition between the participating teams, particularly among the somewhat stronger nations in the global game.

“We may well seek to expand the tournament to 10 or 12 teams in the coming years as that will give it an added impetus and momentum and achieve the most important goal of providing even sterner tests for our national team in the absence of an organized, year-round schedule.”

The tournament will start on Sunday (April 24), with four pool-phase, round-robin matches per day between 9am and 5pm prior to the commencement of the final showdowns on Wednesday (April 27), when the Seventh/Eighth and Fifth/Sixth place play-off games are set to take place.

The Third/Fourth place play-off and the final are scheduled for Thursday (April 28) at 5pm and 7pm respectively.