One
of the aspirants for the presidency of the Gambia National Olympic Committee
(GNOC), Pa Alieu Jallow, has said nominations and voting are two different
ballgames in the GNOC general elections come November 5.
Reacting
to reports that many sports associations have nominated Alhagie Dodou Capi Joof
for GNOC presidency, Mr Jallow said that in elections like this,
associations prefer to keep secret their
choice to avoid been victimised in case
their supported candidate could not win the election, adding that it is a good
thing that elections at GNOC are through secret ballot.
Pa
Alieu Jallow, who doubles as President of The Gambia Boxing Association, is
confident that the results of the nominations will be far different from the outcome
of the election.
“We
want to start small and come out big on Election day; that is why we just
selected few associations among the lot that are supporting us just to pass the
nominations test, and come Election day
we will turn the table to our favour,”
Mr Jallow assured.
He
called on veteran sports administrators to give chance to the young ones to
assume influential positions so that they can take ownership of the Olympic
House and the country’s sports development future.
Speaking
in an exclusive interview, Mr Jallow said this is more so in the case of
Gambian sports administrators because if they want the change they are yearning
for they should start working towards involving the young people in their
decision making and programmes.
“I
think the personality cult in sport, for example the mentality that, without me
nobody else can do it, should be a thing of the past now. We need a serious
change of attitudes in the way we operate in our various sports associations
for the betterment of our country,” he said.
“This
is all more important now that the youth of this country consist 70% of the
sports population.
“They
should start believing that they are the ones deciding their future and in that
way they themselves will take ownership and guide the direction of their sport
to attain the changes they are yearning for.”
Veering
into the upcoming elections, Pa Alieu Jallow said his leadership at GNOC, if
elected, will continue to consult other sports associations in order to agree
on a united strategy to eradicate the disunity and power struggle that has
affected the GNOC since the departure of Alhagie Abou Dandeh Njie in 2009.
“My
emphasis will be centred more on the young people because it is their right as
citizens to participate in the country’s sports decision-making process,” he
said.
