Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof has stated that international organisations like The Commonwealth of Nations are proud of the achievements the Maldives has attained in sports.
Speaking at the 4th Congress of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Minister Mahloof said during his attendance to the commonwealth games in July that the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland lauded the achievements of the Maldives in the sports sector.
Noting people with disabilities were not given opportunities to participate in sports, Minister Mahloof said the current administration has enabled their participation in various international competitions by establishing Special Olympic Maldives and Paralympic Maldives during the first 100 days of the administration.
In addition, Minister Mahloof noted the second largest number of projects implemented by the administration has been implemented by his respective ministry. As such, the minister said good quality volley courts have been established in 10 islands and efforts are underway in 30 islands to establish volley courts. Moreover, three indoor volley courts are also in development phase, he added.
Furthermore, Minister Mahloof said badminton courts have been developed in 11 islands, swimming tracks have been developed in six islands and futsal pitches in 50 islands have been completed so far. He went on to say that no government had previously built a football stadium on any island, but the current administration has built football stadiums on 38 islands and is working on football stadiums on another 80 islands.
Developing sports infrastructure is an important objective of the government with the aim of holding international tournaments in the Maldives.