The government of The Gambia Thursday 28th January 2021 gave a cheque amounting to two million dalasi to The Gambia National U-20 Team in a ceremony held at State House in Banjul. His Excellency President Adama Barrow presented the cheque to the team.
The Young Scorpions were at No.1 Marina Parade on the invitation of President Barrow following their triumph at the WAFU A championship in Senegal, which earned them a place at the CAF U-20 African Cup of Nations finals for the first time in a decade.
President Barrow expressed pride and joy to the team for what he described as a sweet victory. “You have raised the Gambian flag to a higher height. It is sweet to win, especially winning against Senegal in Senegal. This gesture is a sign to show our gratitude for your performance. We will continue to support you. Don’t be over excited, be who you are and focus on your career because someday any of you can be a great asset to the nation,” he said.
While congratulating the Ministry of Youth and Sports, The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) and all Gambians, President Barrow assured his government’s commitment and continues support to the development of the youth and sport sector despite the limited resources and tight budget. He encouraged the players to maintain discipline, confidence and work together as a team and not as individuals. He also expressed delight in recognition of Coach Mattar M’Boge’s award as the best coach of the tournament, expressing his support in building the capacities of such coaches.
Bakary Y. Badjie, the Minister of Youth and Sports highlighted the impact of the team’s performance, noting that the team spirit and chemistry is huge. He encouraged the players to maintain the same discipline and focus on the task ahead. “This presentation should have been done earlier but a lot of events occurred simultaneously and this caused the delay,” he explained, while describing their triumph as a victory for Gambia.
For his part, Lamin Kaba Bajo, President of the GFF expressed appreciation of the courtesy call and the cordial relationship that exist between the Ministry and the Federation. He reiterated that youth and grassroots football is a core function of the Federation but which comes with challenges.
While appreciating the efforts of government in supporting the Senior National Teams, Mr. Bajo called for similar consideration to the junior national teams. “We appreciate the financial challenges of government and the laudable initiative by developing sports infrastructure, which is commendable,” he added, stating that sustaining National Teams is hard as the Federation’s only source of funding is FIFA.
Bajo said that his office has already arranged for a week’s training camp in Morocco for the U-20 before heading for the AFCON in Mauritania. He also stated that the Baby Scorpions (U-17 Team) is also set to travel to Senegal for the WAFU Championship from February 5th – 13th , 2021 as Sierra Leone was stripped off the right to host the competition due to the lack of an MRI testing machine in that country. “The Senior National Team is also preparing to host Angola and finish the job before traveling to DR Congo and we seek your blessings and support,” Bajo told the President.
The GFF boss also informed President Barrow that the Federation has recently signed the contract for upgrading three mini stadiums each to a tune of 8 Million Dalasis and renovations are ongoing in other areas with about 9 Million Dalasis as the current state of pitches is unfavorable and unsuitable for football.
Head Coach Mattar M’Boge, who gave the President a timeline of the team’s activities leading to the WAFU triumph, also sought the government’s support to ensure a similar win in Mauritania. Vice Captain, Tijan Marr expressed gratitude to the government and the Federation for the trust and motivation and promised that his team will deliver and serve as expected of them.
The Young Scorpions are expected to go to Camp on Monday morning when they are expected to undergo their mandatory Covid19 tests before leaving Banjul for Morocco on Wednesday early morning. The GFF has also arranged for the provision of camp allowance to the team during their stay in Morocco and the tournament in Mauritania.
Also present at the event were Noah Touray, Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service, Sutay Jawo the Deputy Permanent Secretary at MOYS, and Lamin M. Jassey the General Secretary of the GFF. The ceremony was chaired by Marcel Mendy the Executive Director of the National Sports Council.