Imo State to host this year's National Deaf Football Championship in November

IMO State is to host the fifth Nigerian National Deaf Football Championship at the Dan Anyiam Stadium Sports Complex in the capital Owerri between November 1 and 12 this year.

 

In a development designed to boost Paralympics and sports for the disabled, the championship is held annually to encourage the physically challenged to become involved in sports. Lukman Agbabiaka, the secretary-general of the Nigeria Deaf Sports Federation (NDSF), confirmed that Imo State would host the championship.

 

Mr Agbabiaka said: “This is one of our most important events for the year. A total of 15 states will participate in the event and each team must obey the rules of the game as the necessary punishment will be apportioned to any team that will disregard the rules.

 

“We have a lot of programmes lined up for this year but we could not organise any because of inadequate funds. This is why we could not participate in the Third World Deaf Volleyball Championship in July in Washington DC."

 

He added that they want this year’s edition to be more entertaining than previous ones. According to Mr Agbabiaka, the federation could have done a lot more for the disabled but was prevented from doing so due to the lack of funds.