Ndifor Joel is a Cameroonian amputee footballer in Turkey and a member of the Cameroon Amputee Football Association. He is a player with the Turkish Amputee Super League. In this exclusive interview with The Ultimate’s Glovise Forsoh, he talks of his life as an amputee footballer, his mission to Turkey and the need for the Cameroon Football Association, FECAFOOT to develop amputee football in the nation. He also proposes ways the government can use to develop amputee football in Cameroon.
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As an amputee, how did you develop love for football?
From birth, my passion was to play football. But when my leg was amputated after an accident, I thought I will never play again. I later discovered that I can still play football with my kind called the amputee football. Few of us decided to form an association called the Cameroon Amputee Football Association in 2019. Today we have represented Cameroon in Angola in 2019 and Tanzania in 2021 respectively for the amputees African Cup of Nations.
These activities have been carried out solely on our efforts and the help of some institutions like the Cameroon Baptist Convention and some private individuals. We have eight clubs in the country and most of our clubs survive through begging to enable us participate in matches.
How is life as an Amputee footballer?
My life and football life is somehow very complicated and very stressful because so far amputee football is not having many sponsors in Cameroon that can even enable me to take care of my needs and health challenges. I do it for passion and because it’s the fastest means that I can use to communicate a problem to the world and they see it on time. Since I left school, life has not been easy because nobody cares about us persons with disabilities in Cameroon especially if you are from the English speaking regions. So playing the sport is not easy because we are not paid. Only little allowances are given to us here in Turkey.
How did you get to Turkey?
I got to Turkey through my videos testing and playing with the ball and uploading them on social media while searching and looking for clubs playing in the Super league. So one day I was contacted and I struggled to process my documents with little help from the club and the City Mayor of Kumba.
What is your overall mission to Turkey?
I went to Turkey because I wanted to gain international experience and create more international recognition for my country Cameroon. I intend to play and learn how the amputee football federation in Turkey is being managed so that I can contribute to the Cameroon Amputee football federation too.
Secondly, going to Turkey is to create awareness about the plight of persons with disabilities in Cameroon for a better and inclusive future for all, to show the world that persons with disabilities in Cameroon are not sleeping but want to belong and to show our inborn talents too.
My mission to Turkey is also to participate in international competitions around the world and make our voices heard. I am playing the Turkish Amputee Football Super League here with the Istanbul Sisli Yeditepe Spor Kulubu. I signed a two year contract for the club just to have access to the international scene and to gain international experience. This will enable me gain experience to better our local amputee football initiatives in Cameroon.
What words do you have for the government of Cameroon?
My wish is that the government should consider us as Cameroonians and take us very serious. The government should initiate amputee football programs into their systems and sponsors the development of amputee football in Cameroon through the empowerment of its members. The government can develop it as a recreational activity to rehabilitate the disabled. If the male football teams in Cameroon are being paid up to FCFA 40 million, why can’t the amputee football teams receive even FCFA 5 million? Is that money not coming from our tax and national resources? Are we not also paying the tax in Cameroon?
What advice do you have for other disabled persons in Cameroon?
Well I wish to encourage all persons with disabilities in Cameroon to join their voices with mine so that we can speak as one voice with one agenda. We want the total inclusion of persons with disabilities in all domains of human life. Also, my wish is for all persons with disabilities especially the amputees to join any sport domain of their choice and train. This will benefit them individually and they can also earn a living from it while defending the colours of our nation Cameroon. We are Cameroonians and deserve to contribute to its growth. So I urge every person with disability to stop hiding in their various homes and come out and engage in sustainable development activities and become great community leaders.
What about your family?
My family is still in Bamenda struggling too, my mom and dad are also struggling to raise us though with many challenges from my father’s brothers and sisters as they once threw us out of the family house. We are 7 boys for my mom and for my dad; we have one eldest sister too. My mother is called Ngu Caroline and my father, Ngu John Ngwa. So since that incident, our parents decided to let go everything and it has not been easy growing up especially living in a small house with all of us.
Any last word?
My last word is that disability is not a crime and anybody can become disabled anytime anyhow. So we all should stop laughing and treating persons with disabilities bad and start supporting and encouraging them instead. God created persons with disabilities to test those who are not having any form of disabilities. Let FECAFOOT support and develop Amputee football in Cameroon and empower all those who have for the past years been defending the national colours without any recognition.
Who is Ndifor Joel?
Ndifor Joel is Cameroonian by birth from the Northwest region of Cameroon who lives in the southwest region. I had a motor accident which led to the amputation of my leg at a very tender age in primary school. Today, I am an accountant by profession but given the nature of our country that has little chances for persons with disabilities, I decided to become a disability rights advocate, to fight for the total inclusion of persons with disabilities in all domains of human life as everyone is equal before the law and before God Almighty.
Interviewed by Glovise Forsoh
