Lagos – The Nigeria Deaf Football Association (NDFA) says it has lined up friendlies for the national team to enable players prepare adequately for the qualifiers of the 2017 Deaflympics.
The NDFA Technical Director, Banjo Kamiludeen, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos that the friendly games were open to deaf footballers and would be used to assess the national players’ form.
“Early preparation is important and this is the reason we have proposed to engage members of the national team in friendly matches with state teams to keep them in form.
“It will provide a good platform for state team footballers to exhibit their skills,” he said.
According to him, any footballer identified to have an exceptional skill during the friendly encounters, will be considered when inviting players to the national camp for the qualifiers.
The coach noted that such preparation would put the national footballers in shape to excel in the qualifiers and pick a slot for the Deaflympics in Turkey in 2017.
“We are doing everything possible to make sure that we succeed at every stage, starting from the qualifiers, to the Games proper next year,’’ he said.
He said the qualifiers, to be organised by the Confederation of Africa Deaf Football (CADS), would hold in the last quarter of 2016, adding that the date and venue have yet to be decided.
Kamiludeen however explained that they were in dire need of financial support from fans and corporate organisations for the preparation.
“We need financial assistance from individuals and corporate bodies to travel to some states because the players do not have the means to embark on the trip,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the national deaf team had its first outing in the Deaflympic Games in 2013 in Bulgaria, where it crashed out at the group stage. (NAN)