The late Badou Jasseh was a sports hero

The untimely demise of veteran Gambian sports icon Badou Jasseh is a great loss to Gambian sports.

This was a man who during his school days was an athlete, a cricket player before taking on refereeing as a professional career.

The late Badou Jasseh was a great asset to the nation, as he immensely contributed towards the development ofthe country, and was always been proud of The Gambia.

He contributed a lot in building the capacity of young Gambian referees, some of whom  are today's CAF and FIFA referees and are representing these two respectable sports bodies in African continental competitions.

Indeed, all these achievements the country is registering in the field of refereeing is as a result of the good work of people like Badou Jasseh.

Apart from The Gambia, he also trained lots of African referees as a CAF instructor, most of whom are now excelling in refereeing.

The late Badou Jasseh was a gentleman to whom many people turned for advice in the area of sports in the country.

He was a role model in society, and a man of truth.

We should always make sure that his legacy does not go in vain, because he was not only concentrating on developing the male referees, but was also known for encouraging the female folk too.

As the chairman of the Gambia football referees committee he was also very supportive not only of the Gambia Football Association, but also of the private sector.