A five-day development programme for referees officially got underway today at the National Technical Training Centre (NTTC), cum Football Hotel, in Old Yundum. The programme that brings together 25 participants drawn from Banjul and the Kanifing regions is part of The Gambia Football Federation’s (GFF) FIFA Forward 2.0 programme for our local referees.
Declaring the session official opened, Mr. Ebou Faye, the second vice president of the GFF implored the participants to work hard in order to achieve their objectives. He said the GFF would professionalise the domestic league in the next couple of years and as such only professional referees would be allowed to officiate in the league, thus further signifying the importance of the training. “As such you would only concentrate on refereeing and not having to work elsewhere to earn a living,” he said.
Mr. Faye also dealt on ethical issues as a referee, saying: “Never allow anything outside of football to influence your decisions because referees are like judges and any outside influence on your decisions would have [serious] repercussions. You’ll hear all sorts of insults outside of the field but block it all. You’ll make mistakes though but let it be honest ones.”
The General Secretary Mr. Lamin M. Jassey for his part said the course is part of the Federation’s drive to develop all aspects of football. He said there will be 10 different trainings for referees alone in the calendar year, noting that there would be other trainings in other parts of the country.
Mr. Alhaji Ebrima Faye, the referees’ representative in the Federation’s Executive Committee said one of the most essential programmes on the agenda of the current GFF leadership is referees training. He added that it is part of President Lamin Kaba Bajo’s promise to train a minimum of 1,000 (one thousand) referees at the end of his current term.
Reporting & Editing by Baboucarr Camara