Do not politicise sport!

According torecent media reports, the finals of the 2012 edition of the Gambia Football Association’s FA Cup between Gamtel FC and second-tier side Interior FC will be played on Sunday July 22nd at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

This development was announced by the Normalisation Committee of the Gambia Football Association.

We do not really know why they decided to choose July 22nd.

However, we must remind them that any attempt to politicise sport can be  tantamount to killing sport in the country.

While we equally acknowledge the President’s support to the development of sport we do not think July 22nd is the right day for the FA Cup final.

We also fault the naming of the inter-departmental football championship (NISA) finals after the July 22nd championship, since not all those working in the various departments participating support the July 22nd revolution.

We must be very careful when aligning certain national events with political days since it could lead to non-success of such events.

Sport and politics cannot go together, and that is why the world football governing body FIFA has made strict rules against any form of government interference in football.

People have different political associations and ideologies, but when it comes to sport it is necessary to see one another as one.

So, therefore, to us, choosing the July 22nd for the finals of the FA Cup and the NISA final is not proper.

Our argument is that any event aligned with July 22nd simply means you are celebrating the coup that changed the democratically-elected government of this country on July 22, 1994.