Saudi national team for individuals with mental disabilities is preparing for the 7th Football World Cup for people with mental health problems The Saudi squad has won the championship on three previous occasions RIYADH: The Saudi national team for individuals with mental disabilities is preparing for the 7th Football World Cup for people with mental health problems, which will be held in Sweden next month. The Saudi squad is training on a daily basis at the headquarters of Al-Dareya Club for the first stage of preparations for the tournament. The Saudi squad has won the championship on three previous occasions. The Green Falcons’ daily routine includes fitness and tactical training, as well as technical lectures for players, under the supervision of the team’s coach, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Khalid. Al-Khalid said the team’s camp is going as planned, adding that all players are committed and taking the drills seriously. The Saudi squad will be taking part in the tournament in the city of Karlstad in the second group alongside three teams — Russia, Poland and Japan. Topics: Saudi Arabia football disability Related 285 Saudi Arabia Prince Sultan bin Salman backs disability conference 1061 Offbeat ‘Disability is a state of mind’ says paralyzed Lebanese man about to walk 100km across North Pole Saudi aviation academy to train first women pilots Updated 50 min 54 sec ago Reuters July 16, 2018 16:48 239 DAMMAM: A flight school in Saudi Arabia is opening its doors for women, following the end of a decades-long driving ban in the deeply conservative Muslim country where many social restrictions are easing. Oxford Aviation Academy, a leading trainer and crew recruiter, has already received applications from hundreds of women hoping to start lessons in September at a new branch in the eastern city of Dammam. “People used to travel abroad (to study aviation), which was difficult for women more than men,” said applicant Dalal Yashar, who aspires to work as a civil pilot. “We are no longer living in the era were women were allowed (to work) in limited arenas. All avenues are now opened for women. If you have the appetite, you have the ability,” she said. The academy is part of a $300 million project that includes a school for aircraft maintenance and an international center for flight simulators at the airport. Students receive three years of academic and practical training, said executive director Othman Al-Moutairy. A decades-long ban on women driving was lifted last month, as part of sweeping reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at transforming the economy and opening up its cloistered society. The lifting of the prohibition was welcomed by Western allies as proof of a new progressive trend in Saudi Arabia, but it has been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including against some of the very activists who previously campaigned against the ban.