Sofia 2013 - Handball

ICSD is forever grateful to Bulgaria for having successfully hosted the 22nd Summer Deaflympics after accepting the responsibility at such late notice in 2012 to make preparations.  It was because the original host country had withdrawn.  And the alternate host had also backed off.  Furthermore, in February 2013, when the deaf Bulgarian organizers were in the middle of making progress with the plans, the Bulgarian Government decided to discontinue funding the host-city projects due to political changes.  That didn't discourage the organizers.  The Bulgarian Deaf Sports Federation (BSDF) took the whole financial responsibility in their hands to continue with the projects by successfully obtaining several sponsors.  "On behalf of all the world's deaf athletes, I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Bulgarian friends," the ICSD's then president said.

Sofa was no stranger to deaf competitions.  The city had hosted several world championships in a variety of sports such as badminton, football, table tennis, and wrestling.  Most notably, the city also held 17th Summer Deaflympics in 1993.  That made Sofia one of the only two cities to have hosted two summer Deaflympics.