October 22, 2021
The Sierra Leone Deaf Sports Federation has on 21st Thursday 2021 departed for the deaf Sports Tournament that is set take place in the Gambia on Saturday 23rd October 2021.
According to the Outreach Fils Gerald Mansaray the team is traveling by road to the Gambia with no Support from the Government of Sierra Leone even though they have held fruitful engagement with the Ministry of Sports in Collaboration with the national Sports Authority, the bodies that are responsible to regulate sports in the Country.
He affirmed that in all their engagement with the Ministry of Sports and National Sports Authority nothing came that will help them fund the team to represent the Country in the West Africa Deaf Sports Federation tournament in the Gambia. He said this is a tournament they hosted two years ago when they reached the quarter final spots and was eventually won by Mail.
He added that traveling by road will have an adverse effects on the team considering that they only have a day to the kick start of the tournament and the technical team and players are displeased with the level of treatment giving to them by Government even though they are going to fly the Green White and Blue in the International stage.
He furthered that even the road Journey they have decided to use is huge cost considering the payment of the Vehicle, feeding and accommodations which are a serious challenge for them.
The road Journey transport fear is raised by the Deaf Sports Federation that put small amount together just to help the team made the trip, but even that supports is not enough considering the long Journey they have to go through to the Gambia Banjul.
Before the Deaf Sports Federation departed they received small supports of training wear from the Sierra Leone Football Association as they help them with kits and balls ahead of the tournament.
A total of 23 players and six officials made the long trip to the Gambia ahead of the West Africa Deaf Sports Federation tournament.
According to the head of Media at the National Sports Authority Eric Batilo Fomba yes they received a proposal from the Deaf Sports Federation asking for supports for the West Africa Deaf Sports Federation tournament but they submitted all those documents to the Ministry of Finance but they failed to provide the funding, so he noted it is not the fault of the Ministry of Sports or National Sports Authority