Athlete, entrepreneur and benefactor: who is Ghanim Al Muftah, the remarkable World Cup ambassador with the eternal smile?

And so it happened. Ghanim grew up with his parents’ eternal positivism and life motto: “nothing is impossible”. His father and mother insisted that Ghanim lead a normal life beyond the limits of his disability. And so Ghanim went to play football with his brother Ahmad and his school friends, with shoes on his hands instead of his feet. He learned to swim and skate and took judo lessons. Subsequently, scuba diving, ice hockey and mountain climbing were added.

In 2015, when he was only 13, he told his life story on the YouTube channel of the Paralympic Games. “Everyone has the right to dream and has ambitions that they can achieve. I want people to understand that people with disabilities are able to give and be active in society,” he said. Even then, Ghanim was very active on social media, with almost 1 million followers on Instagram, and committed to charitable causes with his family. His dream was to later participate in the Paralympic Games himself, he said.

Three years later, Ghanim climbed Djabal Shams in Oman, the highest mountain in the entire Gulf region. Later he also wants to add Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, to his list.