President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and First Lady Fazna Ahmed welcomed the returning athletes, who took part in th Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) in Mauritius, with a festive ceremony celebrating their outstanding performance throughout the aforementioned games.

Following the conclusion of this 10th IOIG event the Maldives brought home gold in Women's Table Tennis Doubles and in Women's Badminton Singles, and brought home bronze and silver in several other sporting fields.

Vice President Faisal Naseem and his spouse, Speaker of the People's Majlis, Mohamed Nasheed and Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom also participated in the ceremony, which was held today at Izzuddin Jetty today.

The games ended on a particularly high note for the Maldives, with the IOIG council voting to host the 11th iteration of the games, due to be held in 2023, in the Maldives.

During the ceremony, the Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Ahmed Mahloof, presented the IOIG flag to the President to commemorate Maldives' successful bid to host IOIG 2023.