Nigeria’s amputee football national team, Special Eagles have unexpectedly received more time to put their act together, as the Amputee Football African Cup Of Nations planned to begin on April 18th in Cairo, Egypt has been shifted till next month.
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Barely 24 hours after the Special Eagles sent an appeal to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation for aid towards their continental ambitions, they received a reprieve with information that the championship has been rescheduled for May 18th to 30th.
This was disclosed in an emergency statement on Wednesday from the Luanda, Angola secretariat of Confederation of African Amputee Football (CAAF), which cited time constraints in putting together visas and logistics for a successful competition.
CAAF blamed many of the 16 nations expected to compete in the competition, which was initially scheduled to begin on April 18th, for late submission of information about their teams and non-payment of registration fees.
The statement added in part: “…Due to circumstances beyond our control, we will not be able to organise the tournament this April, as earlier scheduled.|
“We have to postpone the African Amputee Football Cup of Nations (AAFCON) organised by the Confederation of African Amputee Football (CAAF) to next month.
“We are now trying to organise the tournament from the 18th to 30th of May 2024.”
This means Nigeria’s Special Eagles have more time to camp and train for the competition, but it would also entail additional expenses for their governing body.
To this end, Nigerian Amputee Football Federation (NAFF) will have to step up its sponsorship drive to procure funds that would ensure better camping conditions,
improved welfare, adequate remuneration and assurances of flight tickets for the team.
It was just this past Tuesday that some of the players and officials echoed an appeal for aid from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs’ Special Needs Department and other agencies that oversee issues of disability in Nigeria.
NAFF will now hope that this appeal will receive positive results within the new time frame provided by Wednesday’s postponement of the competition.
