Special athletes prep up for Unified Football Cup

New Delhi [India]: Six intellectually challenged athletes from Special Olympics Bharat have teamed up with five mainstream athletes to participate in the second Unified football training camp being held from April 15 to April 24 at the Don Bosco Oratory grounds and the Bambolin Athletic Grounds.

Participants including three coaches are coming from the states of Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan.

The first training was held from March 24 to March 28 at the Scottish High International School, Gurgaon. The training is a run-up to the United Football Cup in Chicago, to be held from July 17 to July 20.

The event is expected to see the participation of coaches from the GFDC and the FC Goa, who would be supervising to upgrade footballing skills of the players with intellectual disabilities and improving team coordination, to match global competitive levels.

The Unified Cup Chicago is a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Special Olympics. 24 teams (16 male and 8 female) will be participating from India, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Japan (Nippon), Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Slovakia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Uruguay. (ANI)