Ghana, Senegal, Mali, nine others to storm Abuja for West Africa Deaf Championships

No fewer than 12 countries with over 200 participants would storm Abuja for the 13th edition of West Africa Deaf Football and the 3rd West Africa Athletics Championships scheduled to hold from August 18-31 st the MKO Abiola Stadium.

President of West Africa Deaf Sports Union (WADSU), Amuda Yusuf Ibrahim, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Lagos on Friday 11th of July 2025 to herald the Championships which Nigeria is hosting, said the competitions will be used to select players and athletes, as well as teams for continental and global competitions.

According to him, the primary aim of the championships is to foster integration and inclusive participation of the Deaf athletes and players in organized sports events in each member country in West Africa region and also to showcase ability in disability, as well as to give recognition and awards to best teams and individual athletes and players while minimizing poverty and begging among the deaf as they use their talents to earn a living.

He noted that this year’s championships are in commemoration of the 50th Golden Anniversary Celebration of ECOWAS which was founded in 1975.

While assuring that the championships would be very competitive as more countries have indicated interest to compete, he called on corporates organisations and well meaning individuals for their supports.

“We expect a very competitive championship but our challenges so far is that, while ECOWAS gave us some grants, it’s limited in scope and can hardly be enough to organise everything. The grants covered and limited partially to pay referees allowances and other sports officials handling the events, provisions of medals, trophies, jerseys and payment of prizes for winners.

“This necessitates our sourcing for additional support and funding to enable us to successfully organise the events. So, we are appealing for supports from the corporate world and we’ll meaning individuals for their kind supports,” he said.

Also speaking at the briefing, President of the Nigeria Deaf Sports Federation (NDSF), Dagbo Suleiman assured of the federation readiness to host a successful championships.

“We have put all necessary machineries in place to ensure that we host a hitch free championships. It’s an honour for us to host and we won’t disappoint. It’s going to be one of the best ever staged in the history of the championships,” he said.
Dagbo commended the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko and the Director General, Bukola Olopade for their support.

“We want use this opportunity to thank the NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko and the DG, Olopade for making the MKO Abiola Stadium available for championships,” he added.

NDSF’s Vice President, Comrade Ige-Jenyo Olawale, who is in charge of logistics, said apart from football, the event will also feature 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 4×100m relay, 4×400m relay and mixed relay.

The countries that have shown interest include, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Nigeria Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry and Guinea Bissau, amongst others.