Banjo Kamiludeen, Technical Director, Nigeria Deaf Football Association, says that deaf footballers have continued to train in spite of the near absence of competitions in the body’s calendar.
Kamiludeen told the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Lagos that the footballers had been coming for their regular training to keep them in good shape for any sudden national or international competitions.
He said: “We have been facing lots of challenges in deaf football but the major issue is the lack of regular competitions which should be part of activities that is fundamental for development.
“On our own part in the technical arm, we have programmes that brings the footballers together for training and it’s still going as expected which also gives me joy.”
He told NAN that such training was necessary and would be used to prepare the team known as “Deaf Eagles” for two major 2019 continental competitions holding in September and November.
According to him, the national team was expected to feature in the 2019 West African Deaf Football Tournament scheduled for Sierra Leone in September.
He said: “There is need for footballers to engage in regular training to keep them abreast with latest techniques to strengthen the team spirit.
“The West African tournament is a competition that we usually participate in and have been doing well, so this year’s edition will not elude us because we are on it.”
NAN reports that NDFA is affiliated to the West African Deaf Football Union, organisers of the annual continental tournament to be hosted in Sierra Leone in September.
The Deaf Eagles have previously won the WADFU organised competition thrice in a row, the 1st, 2nd and third editions, and ended up as runners-up in the 4th and 5th editions.
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