Amputee team ‘motivated’ despite chaotic World Cup

Kenya Amputee Football Federation (Kenaff) Secretary General Peter Oloo says the national team will only get better following their exploits at the 2018 World Cup in Mexico.

The team played were forced to play with no allowances and were also not accorded with national team kitting but managed to finish 12th out of 24 participating countries.

Oloo said that despite their plight, the squad picked up valuable lessons from the global showpiece while their performance under the circumstances has only served as a source of motivation.

Following the World Cup, Kenya is ranked second best in Africa behind world champions Angola and Oloo believes the national team can bridge on the gap if they are given the necessary support.

“Despite not having a league in Kenya, we are having Inter-counties and the results we posted in Mexico is an indicator of better things ahead. The government has not thrown its weight behind the team since nobody has bothered to treat them seriously,” Oloo said.

Last week, the team spent a night at the boardroom of the Sports Ministry headquarters shortly after their return to the country in protest of unpaid allowances.

Pictures of the situation surfaced online, sparking public uproar. It pressured the Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa into reaching a deal to pay them KSh2.3 million in allowances.

Angola’s amputee football team beat Turkey 5-4 in penalty kicks to win Amputee World Cup. Turkey had won the European Amputee Cup last year.

Kenya is bracing for next year’s Amputee African Cup of Nations in Angola and where they will hope to pull an upset against the world champions on their own turf.

“I think the passion that the team had is not going to fade away in the coming tournaments. Instead it will drive up competition amongst ourselves and help our players go professional,” Oloo offered.

The team was placed 19th in the previous World Cup which was also staged in Mexico and will hope to maintain the upward trend at Turkey 2022.