Amputee Footballer Seeks More Competitions

A member of the national amputee football team, Ugochukwu Obieze, has urged the management of the Nigeria Amputee Football Federation (NAFF) to ensure that players had enough competitions in 2014.

Obieze made the appeal in Lagos while assessing the federation’s performance in 2013 in an interview with newsmen.

The federation participated in the Cup of Africa Nations for Amputee Football (CANAF) in Nairobi, Kenya from December 5 to December 15 in spite of poor preparations.

They finished in the fourth position among the six countries that participated in the competition.

Obieze said that they were not adequately prepared for the competition as they were not camped and did not undertake any training tour before going to Kenya.

He told newsmen that the players trained on their own and were only assembled a day to the competition, which affected their performance.

Obieze said that the managers of the sport should be proactive in 2014 to develop the players and create the necessary awareness that could attract the “much needed sponsors’’.

According to him, the commitment of the members of the board will bring innovation to the game.

“The board has tried this year but they really need to make extra effort next year, especially in administration and sponsorship drive because those are areas where we have issues.

“We have always had the problem of fire-brigade approach to continental amputee football competitions because of lack of funds and poor patronage by prospective sponsors,’’ the player said.

He urged stakeholders to prepare the annual programme of activities on time and forward the proposal to the National Sports Commission (NSC) for timely provision of funds.

According to him, the Amputee Football Federation of Africa (AFFA) makes its activities available to NAFF early for them to prepare the national team ahead of competitions.

“The federation must form the habit of making adequate preparations for the national team ahead of competitions to enable them to be in proper shape for successful performances,’’ he said.

Obieze also urged the federation to improve on its sponsorship drive and on the players’ welfare.

“All hands must be on deck to promote amputee football. The board members can provide training kits, sponsor friendly matches and organise local competitions,’’ he said.

The player called on the state associations to collaborate with the national body in promoting the sport at the grassroots.