A Brunei player in action during
a preliminary round of the Special
Olympics Asia Pacific Bocce
Competition last year.Special
Olympics Brunei Darussalam
(SOBD),who sent a contingent
to take part in the Special
Olympics in Greece earlier this
year, will be hosting the 5th
Special Olympics Borneo Cup
5-a-side football tournament.
Picture:BT file
Brunei will host the 5th Special Olympics Borneo Cup 5-a-side football tournament, set to take place on Dec 1-4.
A total of 64 athletes participating in intellectual impairment programmes from Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan will arrive in Brunei on Dec 1.
The venue for the matches, opening and closing ceremony will be at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.
Lt Kol (B) Pg Hj Ramli Pg Hj Bunut has been chosen as the Chairperson of the event.
In a phone interview, he said that the Bruneian team has had success in recent events specifically at the Asean 5+1 football tournament in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, in September when they emerged champions.
Brunei defeated Singapore 3-0 in the finals of the Sept 22-25 competition to claim the crown after dispatching Malaysia 1-0 in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Immediately after saying this, he said, "I can not tell you the future but I am sure the Bruneian team will do their best."
Brunei will be sending three teams to compete in the tournament.
The teams comprise pupils in the Special Education Unit, Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam and Pusat Bahagia.
The event, which runs all year round, means that the athletes have been in constant preparation.
According to a schedule released by event organisers Special Olympics Brunei Darussalam (SOBD), the arrival of the delegations is expected to be completed by noon of the first day, during which they will go through divisioning and be given an opportunity to settle in with a welcome dinner.
Day two will see a healthy screening for the athletes before the opening ceremony, which will kickstart round one of the football tournament.
The semi-finals and final stages will be held the following day, which will be followed by a closing ceremony and a farewell dinner.
Courtesy from Brunei Times
