The Gambia Football Federation (GFF), in a statement signed by the federation’s secretary general Lamin Jasseh, did not only respond to the allegations made by the Gambia Local Associations (GALA), but also addressed each of the issues raised by the pressure group. The federation provided clarity on matters ranging from infrastructure projects to funds received from FIFA, among other concerns.
Furthermore, the GFF accused certain members of GALA’s executive of being involved in football politics, thereby questioning the credibility of some individuals within the pressure group itself.
Clarifying its position, the GFF outlined a series of projects and initiatives funded through FIFA’s Forward Program, including infrastructure upgrades, grassroots development, and capacity-building for local clubs. The federation stressed that detailed financial reports have been submitted to FIFA and made available to stakeholders, countering GALA’s claims that “nothing has been done” despite substantial funding.
Allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement
“As common law and common-sense dictate, he who alleges has the onus to provide evidence to support his allegation. In this regard, we consider this allegation to be false and misleading as the petitioners did not provide any evidence or proof to support their claims. As stated above, the GFF leadership has never missed an Annual General Meeting for the past decade, where the audited accounts/Financial Statements are presented to the members. We can happily report that not on a single occasion was the Executive found wanting in the management of the federation’s funds.”
“Equally, FIFA and CAF have never discovered any mismanagement or misappropriation of the funds they allocate to the federation. The Government of The Gambia also, has not at any given time found the federation wanting in the management of the funds they provide for national team activities. What is more transparent than regularly convening AGMs and facing the stakeholders, likewise holding periodic elections as per the federation’s statute.”
“We kindly urge the petitioners to state and provide an evidence to back their allegations,” GFF further reacts.
Lack of transparency and accountability within the GFF
Responding to this, GFF notes: “This claim has exposed the petitioners’ lack of knowledge and understanding of the structure and operations of the GFF, or they are deliberately attempting to mislead the public.
For ease of reference, please allow me to refer you to Points No. 2, above. These clearly exhibit the federation’s structure and operations, complete compliance to GFF’s Constitution in terms of reporting to its members, FIFA, CAF and NSC and these are well known to her members.
Inadequate support and development opportunities for grassroots football: This matter is adequately dealt with further down. However, may I hasten to state that our grassroots football programmes and activities which are based on clear blueprints are the ingredients of the various successes the country registered in all aspects of football at that level.
First of all, it will be interesting to understand what grassroots football is, before accusing the Federation of not investing in grassroots football. Grassroots football is football for players between the ages of 6 to 12, and from 13 to 20 is Youth football. With this, you can now see the lack of knowledge of many in terms of differentiating what the various levels of football are.
The GFF has departments responsible for the different development areas of football, and thus, grassroots football falls under the purview of the Technical Department, which has the Youth and Grassroots Football Manager who is employed specifically to manage the development of football at this level.
One of the key aspects in the GFF National Football Development Plan is the development of grassroots football. In doing so, we employed Regional Coaches across all the regions tasked with the development of football at that level and assigned them to their respective Regional Football Associations to also help in technical development matters.
In order to formalize and strengthen the very cordial working relationship between the GFF and the school system, an MoU was entered into by the GFF and the Ministry of Basic & Secondary Education (MoBSE) for the training and development of players within the schools system, that allows our Regional Coaches periodic visits to schools to offer training and technical support and in certain occasions offer equipment support.
We have, over the past years worked and supported school Physical Education Teachers through MoBSE or the School Football Association in capacity building trainings, financial and equipment support. Most recently, the FIFA Football 4 Schools project, in which forty PE Teachers from the Lower and Upper basic schools were trained on football coaching, followed by the distribution of two thousand three hundred balls to various Lower and Upper basic schools across the country.
It will be important to note that the Gambia has been crowned Zonal champions three times in the girls’ category of the CAF U-15 African Schools Football Championship and thus represented WAFU-A in the continental finals on two occasions, thanks to the ongoing MoU with MoBSE that allowed our continued training and development of players within the schools system.
The GFF has always been responsible for the equipment and financial support to the school team from their preparation and travelling to the regional and continental championships. This project has yielded significant funds for ScanAid and New Yundum schools that brought a series of developments in their schools derived from the cash prizes won in the WAFU-A regional championship, all thanks to our investment in developing grassroots football through the schools.
The other project on youth and grassroots presently ongoing is the GFF/FIFA Talent Development Scheme launched here in 2022, aimed at recruiting U-13 and U-16 players across all the regions. A significant number of players are selected through this project and are being given periodic training by the Regional Coaches, which is now forming the basis of our selection for the U15 and U17 national teams.”
