The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) regrets to inform the general public that due to the unavailability of 16 players, representing 57% of the final 28, our pre-AFCON friendly international matches with Algeria and Syria have both been called off.
The Scorpions are currently on a 10-day camp in Qatar preparing for its maiden appearance at the African Cup of Nations, which gets underway in Cameroon in eight days’ time. The Gambia will begin its campaign against Mauritania on January 12 before taking on Mali four days later and round up their group campaign with the 2004 champions Tunisia on 20th January.
As part of the preparations, Tom Saintfiet’s charges were scheduled to play with the Africa and Arab champions, Algeria, at the Qatar Sports Club in Doha on Saturday 1st January, 2022, and another encounter with Syria next Wednesday. However, both matches have now been called off at the request of the Gambian team.
This is as a result of the fact that the Belgian is currently been deprived off the services of the following players due to several unforeseen circumstances: Lamin Jallow; Bubacarr Jobe; Baboucarr Gaye; Omar Colley; Ebrima Sohna; Saidy Janko; Sheikh Sibi; Noah Sonko Sundberg; Yusupha Njie; Steve Trawally; Ebou Adams; Ibou Touray; Modou Jobe; Ablie Jallow; Modou Barrow; and Yusupha Bobb.
“Because we do not also have a goalkeeper, we are forced to call off our matches against Algeria and Syria. We’ve so many unpredictable situations making it very difficult to prepare for AFCON that we’re not happy with but no one is to be blamed,” Saintfiet told www.gambiaff.org.
“We’re missing so many key players [at the moment] some of whom are here [in Doha already] but are not available to train. Some of them are not even here so it’s a very complex situation. It’s very sad because I was really looking forward to play Algeria and Syria to prepare for the AFCON.”
