Despite the Gambia Armed Forces being eliminated in the first round of the 7th Edition of the African Military Football Cup held in Kampala, Uganda, two Gambians namely midfielder Landing Darboe alias Del Pierro and Assistant Referee Ebou Saine were among the people who were honoured by the Association of Military Sports in Africa (OSMA) at the end of the two weeks championship that gathered seven teams from the African continent.

Landing Darboe alias Del Pierro was voted as the best player of the tournament after guiding the Gambia Armed Forces team to a three match draw against Cameroon 1-1, South Africa 2-2 and Algeria 2-2. That result was not enough for the team to get to the semi-finals.

Del Pierro was named by the technical committee of the tournament headed by Colonel Issa Dialo of Mali as the best player of the tournament but Del Piero was not awarded a trophy as the host country failed to provide a trophy for the best player citing that it was not catered by the team, a statement that did not go well with the members of OSMA.

But Assistant referee Ebou Saine was among the four referees that officiated the final between Cameroon and Algeria on Saturday at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala.

The most awaited final ended in favour of Cameroon after beating the North Africans on penalty kicks 4-3 after a goalless draw in 120 minutes of play.

Gambian referee Ebou Saine was awarded a medal after the game for his performance in the tournament. The other Gambian referee Edward Gomez also had a good tournament as he was among the referees that officiated the semi- finals.

Meanwhile the next CAMFOOT tournament will be held in Algeria in 2010.