The Nigerian national amputee team.
The Nigeria Amputee Football team was involved in a car crash on their way to Abuja from Lagos on Monday. The team had a visa appointment at the Mexican Embassy in Abuja for their trip to the Amputee World Cup in Mexico.
The Special Eagles have constantly battled against odds in their bid to get to the World Cup in Mexico. After missing the last three editions of the World Cup due to a lack of funds, the team hopes to avoid a repeat which would result to heavy sanctions by the World Amputee Football Federation.
Though there was no loss of life from the accident that happened on the Lokoja-Abuja expressway, some of the players sustained minor injuries and scrapes. According to reports, the members of the Amputee team were helped by some military personnel that helped them out of the crash site.
The team under the Sports Ministry, however, is in a race to gather enough funds to cover logistics costs, upkeep and flight tickets to Mexico. They have explored various means to sourcing funds including a crowd-fund and sales of their bright-colored jerseys. They got a major boost when the Nigeria Football Federation and the Super Eagles donated money to their cause. The NFF gave the Special Eagles N2.5 million while the Super Eagles pledged almost N6 million. The team is still reportedly short of the N14 million estimated to get the team to the World Cup.
The Amputee World Cup kicks off October 24 in San Juan and Guadalajara, Mexico. Nigeria is grouped alongside defending champions Russia, Brazil and El Salvador.
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