The Saudi Deaf Sports Federation was formed in 2008 under the formation of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare (currently the Ministry of Sport) on all federations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Deaf Sports Commission was transformed into a federation dubbed the Saudi Deaf Sports Federation.
Stages of formation of the Saudi Deaf Sports Federation
The first deaf club was founded in Riyadh City in 1980. The club provided significant services to persons with impaired hearing in all parts of the Kingdom. Then the Resolution of the General President of the Youth Welfare (currently Minister of Sport) No. 3062 dated October 18, 1999, was issued on the establishment of the Saudi Deaf Sports Committee, under the umbrella of the Saudi Federation for Disabled Sports. The committee's mission was to supervise and regulate all sports activities targeting persons with impaired hearing across the Kingdom.
Expansion of the Saudi Deaf Sports Federation
In 2000, the Saudi Deaf Sports Committee joined the membership of two international federations for the deaf: the Asia Pacific Deaf Sports Confederation (AP) and the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (CISS). Two years later, in 2002, two clubs for the deaf were founded: one in Jeddah Governorate, and the other in the Eastern Province (Dammam), to provide cultural, social, and sporting services to those with impaired hearing in the two provinces. In 2004, the General President of Youth Welfare (currently the Minister of Sport) decided to separate the Saudi Deaf Sports Federation from the Saudi Federation for Disabled Sports, thus making it an independent entity in accordance with international deaf sports law.
Activities of the Saudi Deaf Sports Federation
In 2017, the Saudi Deaf Sports Federation organized the final of the Saudi Athletics Championship in Dammam. Player Mohammed Arif also reached the semi-finals in the master’s stage of the World Deaf Athletics Championships 2017 in Taiwan. The Saudi Deaf Sports Federation held the final for the Kingdom's Deaf Volleyball Championship. It also organizes the Kingdom’s Futsal Championship.
In 2014, the Saudi Deaf Sports Federation established four centers for serving persons with impaired hearing in the governorates of al-Qatif, Bishah, al-Bahah, and Hafr al-Batin, bringing the number of clubs and centers affiliated with the Saudi Deaf Sports Federation to twenty.
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