© Mozzart Sport
© Mozzart Sport

Deaf handball team staring at missing global championships

Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 28.06.23. | 15:46

Kenya is set to open their campaign on Sunday 2 July against reigning champions Croatia.

Kenya deaf handball men’s team is staring at missing the third World Deaf Handball Championships set for Copenhagen, Denmark from 1 to 16 July.

The team has been in training at Kasarani Stadium but efforts to have their travel documentation sorted before the intended travel date, which was set as 28 June, have been unsuccessful.

Under the tutelage of Fred Omole and Jack Ochieng, the team earned a place in the world competition by virtue of being the best-placed team in Africa and has been training for almost two months in both non-residential and residential camp.

“We were supposed to leave for Denmark on Wednesday but that will not happen. We are stranded due to lack of Visas despite having everything else sorted for this crucial trip.

We received a verbal promise from the ministry of Foreign Affairs that all will be sorted but the embassy has been dragging their feet for months since we started this process and now the team is likely to miss the event,” lamented deaf handball federation Secretary General Johnstone Mutua.

Mutua confirms that everything else has been catered for by the Ministry of Sports but the Visa delays have left the players dejected as they stare at a great opportunity slipping away.

After finishing sixth in last year’s 24th Summer Deaflympics held in Brazil, the deaf federation elected to register two teams in the national handball league, under the name Young City for the men and New Hope for the women’s league.

The move was aimed at giving the players enough exposure for their international assignments seeing as the deaf federation does not have a local league running and the coaching staff for the national team are confident the experience gained in the just concluded season will boost their performance in Denmark if they eventually travel.



 


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Kenya Deaf Handball FederationDeaf men’s handball team

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