The
President of the Gambia Football Federation Lamin Kabba Bajo has congratulated
the Young Scorpions for their spirited fight that ensued a poor officiating
resulting to their exit from the Africa U-20 Qualifiers to Guinea over the
weekend.
The
President earlier on sent a message of felicitation to the team but also
consoled them for the hard fought defeat in the hands of Conakry Guinea. He
however, lamented on the poor refereeing meted out to the Gambian team which
according to him resulted to their exit from the qualifiers. Below is the full
text of the President’s statement.
It
was with great disappointment and dismay that I follow the commentary of the
match played in Conakry which by all indications was marred with poor
refereeing.
Despite
the questionable decisions of the match officials, the boys continued to play
with sustained vigor and determination to reach finals of the continents U20
flagship tournament in Zambia, but their hopes were dash due to mediocre and
substandard refereeing.
Though
the result at the final whistle saw the end of the road for the baby scorpions
to Zambia, I am joined by my colleagues in the Federation, the government and
all Gambians to salute the outstanding performance and resilience of the boys
by fighting vigorously to the end and by assuring them of our continuous and unqualified
support for now and the future.
Finally
I thank the GRTS management for availing the football loving masses the rare
opportunity of following the match in a live commentary on the radio. Their
initiative is saluted and deeply appreciated. And for the general football
family, I say thank you very much for the consistent support, well wishes and
prayers. I share your disappointment and shock, but the future is promising.
I
am eternally grateful to the players, their families, clubs and all those associated
with the footballers for their love, trust, confidence and inspiration.
For
the head coach and his technical team, you have done extremely well both on and
off the pitch by putting up a good selection and producing respectable results
before and throughout the Qualifiers. You have our fullest support now and the
future. Source: gff.gm
