Special sports athletes, consisting of para-athletes and deaf sports athletes, on Wednesday, staged a protest in front of the National Stadium, Surulere Lagos.
They protested alleged exclusion from the 2022 National Sports Festival.
According to their spokesperson, Joseph Babalola, who is a wheelchair basketball athlete, the protest would have been averted if the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports had intervened.
According to Babalola, the affected athletes had been training since January.
“We have athletes in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and deaf sports, and they can’t participate.
“Indeed, this is wrong, with nearly two weeks to the beginning of the festival,” Babalola said.
He said that the protest would continue until Friday except the athletes were given desired attention.
Another protester, who pleaded anonymity, said that it was wrong for the ministry to exclude the athletes when it is inviting athletes from Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal and Togo to compete in the festival.
The protest caused gridlock on major roads in the state.
The 2022 National Sports Festival is billed for Delta from Nov. 28 to Dec. 10.
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