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<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>The victorious Ghanaian team pose after their triumph at the All-African Amputee Football Championship in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
</SPAN><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(FIFA.com)</SPAN> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">22 Feb 2007</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>From 9 to 14 February 2007, the first All-African Amputee Football Championship, supported by FIFA, took place in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Those in attendance certainly did not go home disappointed as the four participating nations, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, gave thousands of spectators a tournament to remember. Football for amputees has thus far received little global recognition, but those involved in the game view their progress with justifiable pride. Football has breathed fresh hope in the lives of so many men struck by heart-rending tragedy, and helped rebuild the futures of members of Africa's most traumatised communities. Read on for a closer look at this remarkable sport.
"Football has saved my life. I never thought I'd play the game again until I discovered football for amputees. It's given me hope again." These are the words of 27-year-old Victor Musa, captain of the team from Sierra Leone, a small West African nation sandwiched between Guinea to the north and Liberia to the south. In 1999, with civil war raging, Victor lived in Daru, a village located 300 km from the capital, Freetown. One evening, Victor came across a road block. "The rebels demanded that I stop, so I started to run. They shot me, and my leg was in such a bad state that it couldn't be treated. I was taken to Freetown hospital, where they amputated it," he explains.
There were an estimated 4,000 such amputations during the civil war, which lasted from 1991-2000 and resulted in an estimated 50,000 deaths. Many of these amputations were caused by anti-personnel mines, bullet wounds, torture, or a lack of proper first aid. Here in Sierra Leone, Victor's story is disturbingly commonplace. All the lads on the team have experienced similar horrors, like Maxwell 'Kallon' Fofanah, who was shot in the leg and not treated soon enough to save it. In Obai Sesay's case, he lost a limb at the hands of rebels when he tried to stop them raping his mother and sister. The goalkeeper Sulaiman Sesay, who was captured and used as a slave, had his arm chopped off after refusing to carry out one of his many tasks.
These young men have endured more than their fair share of suffering, but on the evening of 13 February 2007, it was a game of football that had many of them reduced to tears. After an agonising semi-final defeat against Ghana, several players from the host nation could be seen pummelling the turf and lamenting how a place in the Final had slipped from their grasp. Like footballers the world over, they were torn between sadness and recrimination -towards their opponents, towards the referee, and towards themselves.
"We really should have had a penalty in the semi-final, and it would have changed the game. That's why we're not happy," was Musa's verdict on proceedings. "We haven't got the Cup, but we've got courage and strength. What's more, we're proud to have hosted this 'African Cup of Nations for Amputees', and proud that Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana are all here."
<TABLE class=textblack11px_normal id=IMGTAB height=150 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><IMG id=SECIMG22038 height=150 alt="Sierra Leone players Sulaiman Sesay (L) and Vandi Musa take a break during a tournament that ended with them claiming the bronze medal. " src="http://www.fifa.com/images/cms/fifa/SL_Amps_2.jpg" width=150 border
</TD></TR><TR class=paddingall><TD vAlign=top>
<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>The victorious Ghanaian team pose after their triumph at the All-African Amputee Football Championship in Freetown, Sierra Leone.</SPAN><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(FIFA.com)</SPAN> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">22 Feb 2007</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>From 9 to 14 February 2007, the first All-African Amputee Football Championship, supported by FIFA, took place in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Those in attendance certainly did not go home disappointed as the four participating nations, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, gave thousands of spectators a tournament to remember. Football for amputees has thus far received little global recognition, but those involved in the game view their progress with justifiable pride. Football has breathed fresh hope in the lives of so many men struck by heart-rending tragedy, and helped rebuild the futures of members of Africa's most traumatised communities. Read on for a closer look at this remarkable sport.
"Football has saved my life. I never thought I'd play the game again until I discovered football for amputees. It's given me hope again." These are the words of 27-year-old Victor Musa, captain of the team from Sierra Leone, a small West African nation sandwiched between Guinea to the north and Liberia to the south. In 1999, with civil war raging, Victor lived in Daru, a village located 300 km from the capital, Freetown. One evening, Victor came across a road block. "The rebels demanded that I stop, so I started to run. They shot me, and my leg was in such a bad state that it couldn't be treated. I was taken to Freetown hospital, where they amputated it," he explains.
There were an estimated 4,000 such amputations during the civil war, which lasted from 1991-2000 and resulted in an estimated 50,000 deaths. Many of these amputations were caused by anti-personnel mines, bullet wounds, torture, or a lack of proper first aid. Here in Sierra Leone, Victor's story is disturbingly commonplace. All the lads on the team have experienced similar horrors, like Maxwell 'Kallon' Fofanah, who was shot in the leg and not treated soon enough to save it. In Obai Sesay's case, he lost a limb at the hands of rebels when he tried to stop them raping his mother and sister. The goalkeeper Sulaiman Sesay, who was captured and used as a slave, had his arm chopped off after refusing to carry out one of his many tasks.
These young men have endured more than their fair share of suffering, but on the evening of 13 February 2007, it was a game of football that had many of them reduced to tears. After an agonising semi-final defeat against Ghana, several players from the host nation could be seen pummelling the turf and lamenting how a place in the Final had slipped from their grasp. Like footballers the world over, they were torn between sadness and recrimination -towards their opponents, towards the referee, and towards themselves.
"We really should have had a penalty in the semi-final, and it would have changed the game. That's why we're not happy," was Musa's verdict on proceedings. "We haven't got the Cup, but we've got courage and strength. What's more, we're proud to have hosted this 'African Cup of Nations for Amputees', and proud that Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana are all here."
<TABLE class=textblack11px_normal id=IMGTAB height=150 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><IMG id=SECIMG22038 height=150 alt="Sierra Leone players Sulaiman Sesay (L) and Vandi Musa take a break during a tournament that ended with them claiming the bronze medal. " src="http://www.fifa.com/images/cms/fifa/SL_Amps_2.jpg" width=150 border
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