Declaring the course opened, GFF President Mr. Lamin Kaba Bajo congratulated the participants for their deserved inclusion into the program and further thanked the FIFA leadership for supporting the course. He expressed delight with the improved level of refereeing in the country, describing the trade as a very difficult job. He noted that the sense of purpose and passion for what referees does and the believe in themselves coupled with honesty makes them sail through.
Mr. Bajo, who also doubles as the Chairman of the GFF Referees Committee, however, urged the men and women to double up, while encouraging more women to take up refereeing. “We’ve appreciated the standards and the level of performance of the referees. We have seen consistent improvement and development in our leagues,” he affirmed, citing the current season as an example hence no major queries were received.
The course instructor, Mr. Flix Tangawama, thanked the football leadership through President Bajo for what he described as a very difficult period. “Mr. President I want to thank you very much on behalf of FIFA for organising this course in this very difficult moment. For over a year now FIFA instructors have not been traveling due to the Covid19 pandemic and Gambia is one of the very few countries we have actually managed to organise the course,” the Zimbabwean stated, while urging the participants to make best use of the opportunity which has been presented to them by Football House.
The Technical Director Sang Ndong remarked that capacity building is the bedrock for any meaningful development in football. “There cannot be any meaningful and sustainable football development without capacity building and that is the desire of the GFF to see that there is more capacity building for coaches, referees, administrators and medics,” he stressed.
Executive Committee member, Mr. Sadibou Kamaso, also underscored the importance of the training, describing it as very vital. “Referees interpret and enforce the laws of the game,” he said, while advising them to be more proactive in their work.
Speaking earlier, John F. Mendy, Chairman of The Gambia Referees Association, remarked that the course is a very important one hence the dynamics due to the new concepts in the game. He thanked the course instructor and the GFF for the continuous support to train his men.
The training will wrap up on the 17th July 2021 after which the second segment of the course that targets referee assessors would also take place beginning the next day.