Marrakesh hosts a Para Athletics Forum

Hamid Al-Aouni, President of the Royal Moroccan Federation of Sports for Persons with Disabilities, announced the details of organizing the 8th Moulay Hassan International Para Athletics Forum and the “Marrakesh Grand Prix 2024”.

Al-Aouni said, during a press conference, that the tournament, scheduled to be organized in the city of Marrakesh from April 26 to 28 at the Grand Stadium in Marrakesh, is expected to “break all records, both in terms of the number of participating countries, which reached 64, and also the participants with the participation of more.” Of 450 male and female runners.”

The President of the Royal Moroccan University of Sports for Persons with Disabilities added, during the symposium attended by the Moroccan champions, that the organization of this award and this forum has become “a good year in Morocco in the city of Marrakesh,” stressing “the good reputation that the country enjoys in Paralympic sports, as the forum will be known for its attendance.” Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee, and Paul Fitzgerald, President of the World Para Athletics Federation.”

The same spokesman expressed his hope that the country would host the world championship, saying: “We have all the qualifications to organize this championship,” noting that the Royal Moroccan Federation of Sports for Persons with Disabilities is organizing the eighth edition of Para Athletics and the Eighth Moulay Hassan International Forum for “Para Athletics” and “Grand Prix Marrakesh 2024” in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, Primary Education and Sports.

He stressed that this tournament is considered “an opportunity of the utmost importance for many national and international athletes who will compete to achieve qualifying results for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games next summer.”

It is worth noting that the meeting program is expected to be divided between two stages, as the conference activities will begin, according to what is stipulated in the International Federation’s regulations, with the stage of classifying athletes according to the type of motor, visual or mental disability by the international classifiers affiliated with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), during the period Between April 22 and 25, 2024, followed by April 26, 2024, sporting competitions at the Grand Stadium of Marrakesh, concluding on the 28th of the same month.

According to a statement issued by the university, it is expected, in parallel with the forum’s sports program, to organize many activities, including holding a “training camp” for the benefit of Moroccan and foreign athletes, and training courses in sports classification under the supervision of experts from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for the benefit of coaches and referees for para sports. Athletics and football for the blind. The parallel program also includes “organizing a communication meeting with the associations affiliated with the university, signing partnership agreements and honoring sporting events, in addition to receiving students and children of the Regional Academy of Education and Training in the Marrakesh-Safi region and the National Cooperation Foundation in the region as part of awareness-raising workshops to bring them closer to Paralympic sports.”