"Correspondingly, African countries and their partners must strengthen cooperation at both policy and operational levels to educate and protect our athletes more zealously," he added.
He indicated that every African nation should commit itself to these tasks and translate such commitment into sustained and decisive interventions aimed at imbuing sports with the highest degree of discipline, integrity, and excellence.
The country’s number two was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Inter-regional ministerial meeting on doping in sports, on Tuesday at the SDKJ International conference centre.
According to him, The Gambia is proud to host this important Ministerial meeting, whose theme is aptly cast as “Strengthening Sport Governance in Africa: Fostering Interregional Cooperation and Convergence for Sport Value, Ethics and Integrity.”
He mentioned that the theme was an open reminder that sport must be conducted in a fair atmosphere, and it flags the need for collective action to eradicate cheating.
VP Jallow noted that the message is that no matter how it is perpetrated, be it through illegal substances or other measures to win or sustain dominance, cheating must not be condoned. "Such tactics are unfair and, therefore, contravene the principles of decency and sportsmanship".
Besides, he said the theme also drives the point home, especially to policy makers, law enforcers, athletes, and all other stakeholders, that although sports could be intensely competitive, every sport must be clean and fair to be considered truly sportive.
He emphasised that the forum makes it relevant to applaud the COP 9 Bureau and the UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Department for collaborating with the Gambia government, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, to convene this high-level meeting, with the objective of recognising the essence of values, ethics, and integrity in sports for appropriate follow-up action.
He called on the participants to strengthen cooperation and collaboration among themselves and partners, and assured of The Gambia’s support and, by extension, the commitment of the continent’s political leadership.
He was confident that the outcomes of the ministerial meeting would be a call for more robust educational programmes that target young athletes in various countries, as well as identification of retired African athletes to serve as Anti-Doping ambassadors.
