The President of The Gambia Football Federation (GFF), Mr. Lamin Kaba Bajo, has thanked the President of the Sports Journalist Association of The Gambia (SJAG), Mr. Musa Sise and his team for once again recognising his efforts in positioning Gambian football into its proper context.
Mr. Bajo was speaking in his acceptance speech following the receipt of the SJAG President’s Award at the 11th National Sports Award and Gala held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Center in Bijilo on Saturday. The event was marked with pomp and fanfare and brought together dignitaries from The Gambia and Senegal, including five current cabinet Ministers who all graced the occasion, including the Finance, Foreign and Fisheries Ministers.
The GFF supremo’s award is the second time in consecutive editions that his tremendous and exemplary leadership over the years has been recognised since assuming leadership at the helm of football in The Gambia. In 2019, the last time that the Awards were held, the former Foreign Minister of The Gambia and a seasoned diplomat, Mr. Bajo was also awarded the Sports Personality of the Year, the most prestigious in the awards category, for what it described as transforming the administration of football in the country to a recognisable standard in tandem with best practices and thus hailed him for the rigorous dedication he commits to football.
“Thank you Musa and your entire team for this recognition. Sometimes [we all] feel nervous because most people think football is everything but that is how things are because for every Gambian, regardless of whichever sport you’re involved in, you’re also a football fan,” Mr. Bajo remarked.
“This is also for the past legends of Gambian football, those alive, deceased and every former footballer in the early days of organised football in The Gambia to the present past. To also the past and present administrators and technicians of football. I’d also like to reconise the efforts of my former colleagues. I can count four former Ministers of Sports in this room. I served myself, Honorable Sheriff Gomez, Max Axi Gai, and Sheikh Omar Faye. And to cap it off, the luckiest of all and the youngest of all, Honorable Bakary Y. Badjie, this is for all of you. Thank you.”
It was under Mr. Bajo and his Executive Committee’s pragmatic leadership that The Gambia qualified for its first ever African Cup of Nations finals by finishing top of its qualification group ahead of the likes of Gabon, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.