The Sierra Leone national Deaf Football Team has returned home with a runners up medals despite the non-availability of funds from the Ministry of Sports (MoS) to participates in the just concluded 11th Edition West Africa Deaf Football tournament which was organized by the West Africa Deaf Sports Union (WADSU) and it was hosted in Ivory Coast, Abidjan.

The deaf tournament which was initially scheduled for eight participating countries but later only six nations were able to honor the fixture which commenced from the 14th to 27th August, 2023 and it was played at the Robert Champourx, Marcory Stadium in Abidjan.

Before now, the Sierra Leone Deaf Football Federation (SLDFF) received re-invitation letter from WADSU stating the actual benefits of the competition and how participating countries should behaved during and after the tourney to embrace unity among deaf communities across the globe.

Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone National Deaf Football Team was able to receive an Order of Mission through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Corporations (MoFAIC) but no financial aid was approved.

According to the President of the Sierra Leone National Deaf Football Federation, Madam Ramate Theresa Sesay, they have initially submitted letters to the Ministry of Sports, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA), National Sports Authority (NSA) private institutions and others to support the trip to Abidjan but no one was able to give support except an individual deaf philanthropist by the name of Unisa Kamara who is presently residing in the United State of America.

Madam Sesay noted that, before she left for the tournament, they also submitted a letter of request for support on lodging and feeding to the host country, the Ministry of Sport in Ivory Coast and their request was granted with all due official protocols but upon arrival everything was changed.

It is cleared that, from the Order of Mission document, the entire delegation should be traveling to Ivory Coast via Monrovia the Republic of Liberia by road on an official assignment to represent the country in the 11th edition of the Deaf Football Tournament in Abidjan.

However, on the 11-8-2023, SLDF delegation departed the country with full list of 19 players, three coaches, a referee, a media officer and six executive members of the deaf community. On the way to Liberia border, the delegation was trapped in a river at Zimimi in Pujehun District where they spent the first night with sorrows throughout the night and on the next day on the 12th August, the delegation was able to continue the trip until midnight to get to the Sierra Leone Embassy in Liberia where the team spent the night.

However, the delegation was able to reach the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) border gate with Ivory Coast where the Sierra Leone Deaf Football Team was held for some time before allowing the delegation to cross late to Danane City in Ivory Coast and spent another night from the 13th to 14th August 2023.

Notwithstanding, the persistent struggle on the road with too many security checking points and currency challenges, the Sierra Leone Deaf Football team was able to enter the capital city of Ivory Coast at midnight on the 15th August 2023. And upon arrival the Sierra Leone delegation, there was no proper accommodation, no food and no water as it was planned before the delegation left.

So on the next day of the 16th August, the organizers decided to distribute 12 rooms to the Sierra Leone Deaf Football delegation which was up to 32 members including players and other officials at the Ministry of Sports Football Academy in Ivory Coast and the Sports complex called INJS at Marcory City in Abidjan where all the participating teams were lodged but the venue for the games was at the Robert Champourx De Marcory Stadium but, it was just closer to the football academy.

Despite the official arrangement with WADSU and the host country ,some executive members of the Ivory Coast Deaf Football team still went further to connive with staff from the Government Sporting Complex called INJS at Marcory City in Abidjan.

The feeding and fuel support which was provided by Mr. Unisa Kamara was totally finished after securing a lodging accommodation at a football academy but the delegation was lucky to meet with the Sierra Leone Honorary Consul in Abidjan, Mr. Kamal Hamate who provided feeding and fuel returns for the entire tournament with the help of the President of the Sierra Leone Community in Ivory Coast, Mr. Daniel Musa who also assisted the team with his own personal support of 100,000 CFA.

In the end, Sierra Leone was able to play its first game against Mali in group B on Thursday 17th August 2023 but lost woefully by 5:1, due to massive certain challenges on the arrival of the delegations. And the host country, Ivory Coast defeated Burkina Faso in the opening game on the 16th August 2023. Sierra Leone was again scheduled to battle with Liberia on the 20th for their second game but Liberia did not arrive on time and Sierra Leone took all the three points and qualified to the semifinals with Ivory Coast.

It was actually sad for the participating nations as WADSU did not have competent officials to officiate the rules and Liberia and Guinea were affected greatly ,whereas Guinea were eliminated by raffle draw with Burkina Faso because both of them were unable to have a point after playing twice in group A.

Again Liberia were affected by late appearance due to certain official issues which they said they wrote WADSU to inform them but WADSU did not communicate the issue to the rest of the participating countries and this was made known during a meeting when Liberia arrived on the 21st August but Liberia agreed to play their second game against Mali and they were also defeated by five to nil.

Before departing the lodging place, Mr. Francis who happened to be one of the members of the Ivory Coast Deaf Football Federation received funds as negotiations for lodging the Sierra Leone Deaf Delegation and he agreed but on the way going at Danane City, the entire team was interrogated by the Danane Police Station for lodging which the President of the Sierra Leone Deaf Football tournament had addressed after the finals.

Nonetheless, the delegation was released immediately upon the Order of Mission document and other evidential proves by the Sierra Leone Deaf Football Team Delegation which was headed by Madam Ramatu Theresa Sesay and his Secretary General, Solomon Sabondo.

The organizers, WADSU were disregarded greatly by participating nations for not doing the right needful for the improvement and betterment of deaf persons across the sub-region in Africa but most of the participating countries including Liberia and others have decided to report to the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) who are the sponsor of the tournament for the past years with over $14 000 to $ 15000 dollars annually. So they are calling on other countries to probe WADSU on it alleged exploitation and misappropriations of funds meant for the empowerment and development of deaf victims.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone Deaf Football Team defeated Ivory Coast in the Semifinals by 2:1 and progressed to the finals which were scheduled for Sunday 27th August, 2023. And Mali again humiliated Burkina Faso by 6:0 and faced Sierra Leone for the second time as they both start at the same group B.

Despite the nonfinancial support from government and other private institutions, the Sierra Leone Deaf Football team was able to perform to expectation for the first time in the history of Deaf soccer for in the country to reach to the finals in the West Africa Deaf Football Tournament since it was established around 2010 in Nigeria by WADSU.

In conclusion, the Sierra Leone Deaf National Football Team actually did very well in the tournament despite the financial dares and other calamity confronted at Abidjan. The organizers did not respect the laws of the game, the fair play rule and other protocols because WADSU did not have competent officiating officials, especially the referees, match commissioners, and medical team.