Nurudeen Badmus, captain of the Deaf Sports team, on Monday decried the National Sports Commission’s alleged decision to exclude Deaf Sports from the forthcoming National Sports Festival in Enugu.

Mr Badmus spoke in an interview in Lagos during the protest organised by Deaf Sports athletes against the reported exclusion. He alleged that the NSC was deliberately working to remove Deaf Sports from the list of events scheduled for the festival.

“We are out here in numbers to protest against the efforts of the NSC to remove Deaf Sports from the forthcoming National Sports Festival. We believe that with this protest, the Director-General of the NSC, Bukola Olopade, will consider our concerns and do his best to reinstate Deaf Sports among the events to be contested.

“However, if they do not address our concerns, we will continue protesting and close the gates of the National Stadium, Surulere, until we receive a positive response. We are many in number and have been training throughout the year. This is an opportunity to showcase our abilities, but look at what they are trying to do,” Mr Badmus said.

He added that the athletes would continue their protests until the commission reconsidered its decision.

The athletes called on the NSC to review the reported exclusion and allow Deaf Sports athletes to participate in the forthcoming festival.

In his reaction, Michael Obasi, special assistant on media to the NSC director-general, Bukola Olopade, questioned the basis of the allegation.

He said that the report should have sought the commission’s response before attributing such intentions to its director-general.

According to him, the controversy could be an attempt to attract public attention without adequately explaining the reasons behind the proposed exclusion.

(NAN)