Nigeria stage first blind football tournament

Blind football in Nigeria takes another massive step forward as the Bina Foundation staged the country’s first blind football league tournament in Enugu for 115 young men and women, in August.

Hosted by the Union Secondary School, it featured five clubs: Lions Blind FC, All Stars Blind FC, Stallions Blind FC, Golden Blind Boys FC and Tigers Blind FC.

The round-robin tournament consisted of 10 matches, with Lions Blind FC coming out as victors after topping the table with eight points and a plus three goal difference. All Stars Blind FC and Golden Boys Blind FC completed the podium.

A training camp was also held, with the participants learning about ball control, orientation, communication, dribbling and shooting.

Women’s development

The women’s summer blind football camp and tournament followed thereafter, which proved to be the most entertaining event among the spectators.

They completed training activities on the rules of blind football, orientation and ball control to prepare for the tournament.

Diamond Ladies FC and Sunshine Ladies FC played each other in two matches, with the former ending in a draw and the latter resulting in a single goal by Diamond Ladies to collect the women’s blind football trophy.

The summer camp concluded with the trophy presentation to the winning teams, cash prices to all the players and a vibrant dinner party for the players, technical team and Foundation staff to celebrate hosting the successful camp and tournament.

Bina Foundation are now aspiring to compete on the international stage through a Nigerian blind football national team for both genders competing in international tournament and IBSA-sanctioned competitions.

“The aim of the summer camp was to plant seeds today to jump-start the formation of our national blind football team in Nigeria,” Bina Foundation Founder and President Lady Ifeoma said.

“We have officially joined other African blind football countries like Cameroon, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, Egypt, Cape Verde, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. It is our sincere hope that in the near future Nigeria will be able to participate in international tournaments.”