Press Release: Young Africans FC management on sacked coach Pa Samba Mbenga

The management of Young Africans hereby denies all the accusations against the club by sacked coach Pa Samba Mbenga.

The club is pleased to inform the public that it has never and will never be involved in match fixing.

The club prepared very well as usual during its game against Real De Banjul and was defeated by Real De Banjul.

If there was any match fixing during that match it might be possible that it was led by the coach himself because he was the coach during the match.

The management of the club sacrificed a lot in building what is today a viable club and what the sacked coach is accusing the club of doing is a figment of his imagination and wondered why he took over a week to come up with the claim after denying it outright in the media.

Pa Samba Mbenga was hired as coach of our team at the beginning of the season because we were confident that he could deliver but honestly he failed miserably during the campaign. Performance was very inconsistent.

The team played twenty-two matches (22) matches in the league, won only five matches and conceded more goals this season than other seasons in the history of the club.

There was no improvement in the performance of the team. The team spent over three hundred thousand dalasis (300, 000.00) this season.

He was unable to control his own players or present a suitable team as the league progresses; some of the key players left the club because of his attitude towards those players.

He was unable to accommodate the views of our sponsors and management, in particular pertaining to his management style, which was dictatorial and as a result there was no option left but to sack him.

May be he was not happy with the sacking. The team was on top for up to eight weeks of the league but led to our fading from the top was his ‘management style’. It is important to inform the public that the club escaped relegation this season.

He should be brave to mention the names of officials involved in the match fixing because match fixing is not normally a one-sided issue, and payment is involved. It is indeed important to refute the allegation that most of the players did not play against Sait Matty FC during our FA Cup match; the whole team played during the match.

He was very good at instigating players, which dearly affected the performance of the team.

The management of the club wanted to sack him at the end of the first round but we were persuaded by some members that he should be given the opportunity to continue to manage the team until the end of the league.

Management believes that the only viable way is to restructure the team and look for someone more competent enough to manage the club.

Young Africans FC consequently wishes Pa Samba Mbenga all the best in his future coaching endeavours.

Signed

Malang Darboe, Secretary General, Young Africans FC