President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF),
Amaju Pinnick, has restored hope to the
amputee national team, with a promise of ₦2.5 million and $5,000 to enable them attend this year’s Amputee World Cup in Mexico.
Pinnick made the donation at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Bet9ja Lagos SWAN Cup, at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
After missing out on three consecutive editions of the world cup, which they qualified for, the amputee national team of Nigeria will finally get a chance to represent their country internationally and hopefully bring back the world trophy.
The Amputee World Cup is set to begin from 25th October to 5th November in Mexico.
Speaking after the donation, one player said:
“Pinnick surprised us. Journalists made it possible. We shall go out there and work extra hard to ensure we bring the trophy back home. We have missed out from three editions of the Amputee Football World Cup. This is a massive relief for us.”
Arsenal Amputee FC’s, Michael Ishiguzo, has also joined the movement to help the Nigerian team raise money for the outing. The London-based player launched a crowdfunding campaign on the
GoFundMe platform to raise about US$68,000.
Asides from gaining international experience, players will get their chance to be signed by international amputee clubs.
Nigeria will play Brazil, defending champions, Russia, and El Salvador in the preliminary phase of the tournament.
