The majority of the taekwondo clubs in The Gambia have written and signed a petition letter to the National Sports Council, the Gambia National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to dissolve the Gambia Taekwondo Association (GTA), Pointsport can confirm.
Six out of 9 clubs from the association have decided to come together to disband it.
The reason advanced for the dissolution of the association, officials believed, is due to the fact that it has been dormant since 1987.
According to GTA officials their appeal for the dismissal of the association is based on the fundamental infringement of the decorum of sports and the National Sports Council Act 2000.
Talks of the dissolution of the GTA has been dragging on for a long time now, especially during the tenure of Alieu Cham and Besenty Gomez as executive secretaries of the National Sports Council, but no action was taken at the time.
The authorities said lack of proper management of the association has contributed to the deterioration of the GTA from the list of active national sports associations in The Gambia.
Attached are the correspondences to that effect”
“In spite of the fact that Master Joseph Goma (Founding Father of Taekwondo in The Gambia) has contributed immensely to the introduction of Taekwondo in The Gambia since its inception in 1987, we owe him all the due respect and commend him for his contributions towards the development of Taekwondo in The Gambia.
“But when the call of the national interest is made, all other personal interest will succumb to it, and this is the time.
“Our reasons to advocate for the dissolution of The Gambia Taekwondo Association are as follows:
“The Gambia Taekwondo as the oldest Martial Arts and the least developed sports association in The Gambia has been giving fictitious information to the Sports Authorities and the media on the number of clubs they had. The association has been claiming to introduce various Taekwondo clubs in schools like Marina International and WAIS. This is unfounded information to mislead the National Sports Council and the GNOC, to enable them meet the requirements of getting 6 (Six) clubs before they are recognized as a National Association.
“According to the National Sport Council, every association must at least have 6 clubs to be recognized or else it will be considered as a committee until it meets the above requirements. This has never happened and after that, new clubs that want to join the association are elbowed out by the family-run association.
“Mr Jallow, we are putting it to you that the Association is only comprised of 4 Clubs namely:
The current Executive Committee is single-handedly run by Mohammed Dino, Technical Director of the Association as Pointsport was reliably informed that all the other members have travelled outside The Gambia.
Sulayman Jobe and Yamundow were believed to have absconded during the World Taekwondo Championship held in Denmark in 2009 Whiles the other executive members abandoned their executive responsibilities which led to the dormancy of the Association for a very long time
