Iraq's deaf football team braves violence to play

By Saif Fouad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Anyone born deaf and mute faces a challenge playing in a soccer team -- it's hard to communicate on the pitch, players cannot hear the referee's whistle and few coaches know sign language.

Add the risk of being shot or blown up on the way to training in Baghdad and Iraq's soccer team for deaf-mute players could be forgiven for staying home.

But the squad is set to compete in an international tournament in Kuwait in April, and trainer Hussein al-Shafi says he is determined the team will do their best.

A former local league footballer, Shafi uses sign language he learned from his brother, the chairman of a sports association for handicapped Iraqis, to train a squad of 15 players. He also trains a 12-strong deaf children's side.

"It's tough, but I feel spiritually bound to my players. It's my duty to make sure they succeed," Shafi told Reuters, as young men behind him bounced balls off their feet, gesturing to each other with hand signals when they passed the ball.

Violence has dropped in Iraq, but bomb blasts and gunfire still echo across Baghdad. That has made life hard for the players and sometimes interrupted practice.

"It's difficult to attend training sessions when there are gunfights and blasts everywhere. I'm afraid to come out," said Mohammed Jawad Yusif, 20, talking in sign language through his coach. "Sometimes there's no transport because of roadblocks."

Yusif said one of his friends, also deaf, was killed when gunmen opened fire on a car he was travelling in.