Stakeholders in Nigerian Deaf sports have called on the Federal Government to reverse the exclusion of Deaf Sports from the 2026 National Sports Festival, warning that the decision could deny hundreds of athletes a major platform for competition, talent development and career progression.

The appeal comes ahead of the Enugu 2026 National Sports Festival, scheduled to take place from November 27 to December 11 under the banner of the Coal City Games.

President of the Nigeria Deaf Sports Federation, Alhaji Suleiman Dagbo, said Deaf Sports was omitted from the 27 compulsory sports listed for the Enugu Games, despite having been included in the previous edition held in Ogun State in 2024.  

Dagbo said the federation had been engaging the Ministry of Sports and other relevant stakeholders since 2014 to secure the recognition of Deaf Sports as a compulsory component of the National Sports Festival.

According to him, the campaign recorded a major breakthrough at the National Council on Sports meeting held in Enugu on May 22, 2024, when the council approved the inclusion of up to three selected Deaf Sports in the compulsory programme.

That decision was subsequently reflected in the General Rules and Regulations for the 22nd National Sports Festival, popularly known as the Gateway Games, where Deaf Sports was listed among the compulsory sports, with Athletics, Badminton and Table Tennis selected as its three disciplines.  

However, Dagbo said the arrangement was reversed during an extraordinary National Council on Sports meeting in Abeokuta in April 2025.

He described the development as a reversal of an existing council resolution and expressed concern that the affected federation was not adequately consulted before the decision was taken.

The federation, he said, had written formally to the National Sports Commission and appealed to the National Council on Sports but had yet to receive a formal response or an invitation for substantive engagement on the matter.  

Dagbo estimated that more than 300 Deaf athletes from Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory could be affected by the exclusion.

The scale of participation at the 2024 Gateway Games, he noted, demonstrated the competitive value of providing Deaf athletes with a platform at the National Sports Festival.

A total of 124 Deaf athletes from 22 states participated in the 2024 Games and collectively won 100 medals — 28 gold, 28 silver and 42 bronze — representing 15 states.  

The federation president urged the Federal Government to allow Deaf Sports to participate in Enugu by integrating the three approved disciplines into existing events, similar to the arrangement for Para Sports.

He also called for Deaf Sports to be restored to the compulsory category in the National Sports Festival’s rules for subsequent editions.

Dagbo argued that the current arrangement creates an imbalance because Para Sports are integrated into the festival’s compulsory programme while Deaf Sports, despite years of advocacy and established participation, has been left out.  

Former pioneer council member representing the South-West on the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Hon. Omopariola Busuyi, said many Deaf athletes had spent the past two years preparing for the festival only to discover on August 31 that they had been excluded.

Busuyi said the athletes had largely financed their preparations themselves, covering expenses such as transportation, feeding and sporting equipment due to inadequate government support.

He stressed that the National Sports Festival provides Deaf athletes with an important avenue to demonstrate their abilities and potentially build sustainable careers through sport.  

Technical representative on the NDSF board, coach Emmanuel Audu, also warned that exclusion from the Games would affect talent identification and progression to national and international competitions.

He noted that national scouts traditionally use the National Sports Festival to identify promising athletes for national teams, making participation an important pathway for Deaf athletes seeking to advance their careers.

Former national Deaf athletics champion and captain Badmus Nurudeen said athletes already faced financial challenges, including paying their own transport costs to attend training.

He warned that exclusion from Enugu could further limit opportunities for athletes who depend on exposure at the National Sports Festival and subsequent opportunities within state sports structures.  

The stakeholders have therefore appealed to President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Sports Development, the Director-General of the National Sports Commission and the Enugu 2026 Organising Committee to urgently review the decision.

They want the three Deaf Sports disciplines restored to the Enugu Games, arguing that participation would promote equal opportunity while allowing athletes to compete on merit.

With the Enugu 2026 National Sports Festival approaching, the stakeholders are now seeking urgent government intervention to prevent what they consider a major setback for Deaf sports development in Nigeria.