Deaf Eagles face a familiar quandry
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First held in Paris in 1924, they were also the first international sporting event for athletes with a disability. The event has been held every four years since, apart from a break for World War II, and began as a small gathering of 148 athletes from nine European nations competing but has now grown into a global movement.
Sadly the lack of funding has affected many developing nations in fielding their best contingents, if at all, and the medal table is mainly dominated by the well-funded Americans and Europeans. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in Africa where only two countries have bucked the sad trend of exclusion and fielded teams the almost mirror that of their actual Olympic squads. They are South Africa that
has won a total of 60 medals and Kenya 26.
In comparison, Nigeria with her huge population and approximately more than 700,000 reported deaf cases (as per the Gallaudet Encyclopedia, Volume 2) has snared a miserly 3. That number becomes even more vexing when we see that Mongolia for example, with her minute population, has 11.
As to why, one only has to look at the case of the Deaf Eagles, the countries football team, to understand this abomination fully. On May 12th, the team outclassed the rest of West Africa by beating hosts Mali 2-1,[above] to win the 7th West Africa Deaf Football Union (WADFU) for the fourth time. An even more amazing feat considering that the team was also runner up in 2014 and 2015. This meant that along with Egypt they automatically qualified for the Samsun games.
Deaf Eagles celebrate their fourth west African crown in Mali
Yet with less than a month before their first game against France on July the 19th the team is still scrambling around in Nigeria looking for funding to travel. With the NFF having monetary problems themselves, the Nigeria Deaf Football Association has now reached out to the private sector, while hoping that the Sports Ministry can still come to their aid.
However with team sports where the entire contingent has to travel, this is seeming less likely as their focus is more on athletes competing in individual disciplines. So while the Deaf Eagles opponents, hone their skills on the pitch, the Eagles themselves must take time-off to help campaign for funds, and forgo practice.
Head coach Kamiludeen Banjo, laments over his lad’s fate by pointing out that the same thing happened in 2016 when the team could not even travel for the West Africa Deaf Football Union tournament due to a lack of funding. “We have never been rewarded for flying the country’s flag high in any tournament and that is something the players are not always happy about because of their disability,’’ he said.
Emmanuel Ibru, the proprietor of Lagos-based Pro-League side, AS Racine, and the unofficial guardian saint and sponsor of the Deaf Eagles in Mali, joined the conversation. His passion for football is unprecedented, having been a football administrator for over 20 years and a former member of the Nigeria Football Association, as the country’s football body was once known as.
He shared: ““We know that the ministry is aware of the Deaflympics. The Nigeria Deaf Sports Federation plans in conjunction with the ministry to send teams in other sports to the games, specifically table-tennis and athletics. From the NFF point of view, because of lack of funds the story is that we cannot go because it’s a team event and have to more or less pay for the entire contingent, which is about 20 to 25 people and there is only one medal at stake for that and the federation feels it’s not worth it. So it’s negative news on the possibility of Nigerian deaf team going to the Deaflympics in Turkey.
“I would however want a situation whereby, on a yearly basis, a kind of a budget is made for special needs sports. The Nigeria Deaf Football Association and the Nigeria Football Federation should also have some kind of allowance made for them within the budget to prosecute their own programmes.
“Even the Nigeria National League, which is the pro-league body, is having problems in trying to attract sponsorship from the corporate sector. I think the same problem that affects football in general in the country also affects deaf football but to a greater extent.
“I am hereby appealing directly to the honourable Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung to give the boys an opportunity to attend the Deaflympics.”
As pointed out the Deaf Eagles are slated to face France on July the 19th at the Bafra stadium before completing round robin-play against Iran at the Carsamba Football Stadium on July the 21st and Germany on the 23rd at the Basra stadium. Sadly even the organisers doubt that Nigeria will make it, and unlike with Egypt that have confirmed their participation, have listed their slot simply as Africa.
Hopefully that won’t come to fruition.
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