Special Olympics South Africa today proudly welcomed WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil to South Africa. Titus captained a Play Unified football team against South Africa’s Mark Fish’s Play Unified team at Unity College Special Needs School to show his support for the global social inclusion movement.
The event was part of the WWE media tour on radio and on television, WWE, Special Olympics Africa and Special Olympics South Africa were celebrating the global relationship between Special Olympics and WWE.
South Africa is the first country on the African continent to host a Play Unified event with WWE talent!
The event saw two the teams compete in a Unified Recreational event. Titus O’ Neil and Mark Fish were joined by Special Olympics South Africa athletes and Unified partners from the Gauteng provincial team, and Special Olympics South Africa ambassadors MMA athlete, Garreth “Soldierboy” McLellan and 7de Laan’s Andre Lotter and rap artist Preddy Ugly.
Special Olympics South Africa local supporters rap artist Gigi Lemanye, DJ Citi Lyts and Mrs South Africa and Mrs World 2016, Candice Abraham were on hand to support the teams.
Special Olympics South Africa ambassador, Melanie Ramjee, owner of TuTone Communications was also there to support.
The game in a 5-5 draw with exciting penalty shoot outs at the end.
Titus O’Neil said, “It is an honour to play with the athletes of Special Olympics. They display so much talent and athleticism”.
He later declared that they were all now part of the greatest fraternity in the world, brand Titus World Wide!
Mark Fish said, “Sport brings people together, whether you are a wrestler, a football player, black, white, disabled or not! That is the power of sport. It was a great experience playing with Titus. I am so proud to be an Ambassador of Special Olympics South Africa”
Acting Principal of Unity College, Anita Wiley, said. “Unity College Special Needs School was honoured and privileged to host WWE in partnership with Special Olympics South Africa. Together we welcome WWE and express our gratitude to them for showing support for learners with special needs in South Africa”
Special Olympics is dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. Unified Sports® joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. In Unified Sports®, teams are made up of people of the same age and ability. About 1.4 million people worldwide take part in Unified Sports, breaking down stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities in a really fun way.
Opening Doors and Promoting Inclusion for People with Intellectual Disabilities
Since 1995, WWE has partnered to support Special Olympics’ Play Unified campaign, which fosters friendships, understanding, and inclusive communities among people with and without intellectual disabilities by uniting them through the power and joy of sports.
WWE Superstars participate in Play Unified events with Special Olympics athletes from around the world, including China, India, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and now in South Africa!
The WWE LIVE SOUTH AFRICA tour begins at the Grand Arena, GrandWest, Cape Town on Wednesday, April 18, and Thursday, April 19 before debuting at the Sun Arena, Time Square, Pretoria, on Friday, April 20. The tour concludes at the Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg on Saturday, April 21.
Tickets for WWE LIVE SOUTH AFRICA in Cape Town, Johannesburg and, for the first time, Pretoria, are available from bigconcerts.co.za and computicket.com.
The family-friendly events will feature WWE Superstars Braun Strowman™, Seth Rollins™, Roman Reigns™ Alexa Bliss™, Sasha Banks™, Asuka™, RAW Tag Team Champions Cesaro™ and Sheamus™, and more.