The President of The Gambia Football Federation (GFF), Mr. Lamin Kaba Bajo, has declared opened, a two-day workshop for the Club Licensing Online Platform (CLOP) for the domestic men and women league clubs in The Gambia organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
President Bajo disclosed that the workshop is organised upon the request of Football House, and it is in preparation for the CAF inter-club competitions as well as for the professionalisation of the Gambian league, which is in the offing. He thanked CAF for accepting to conduct the training in The Gambia, while emphasizing the importance of the workshop to the participants. “This workshop provides us with a unique opportunity to delve into issues of club licensing, exchange ideas, experiences, and best practices as well as to collectively take part in building a better future for our football,” Mr. Bajo said.
The second Vice President responsible for competition matters, Mr. Ebou Faye said football is evolving and thus clubs should therefore be well structured to compete in the continental stage. “Clubs should be well structured and properly managed because football is evolving. Thus, I implore on you all to be attentive, ask the right questions, and engage the instructors so as to better transmit the knowledge back to your clubs,” he reaffirmed.
The CAF Club Licensing instructor Mr. Siman Allie-Mans Conteh, expressed delight with the warm reception accorded to them by the GFF. He emphasised the significance of the workshop and its role in world football. He will be assisted by Mr. Francis Adu.
The opening ceremony was chaired by the GFF General Secretary Mr. Lamin Jassey and is attended by members of the GFF Executive Committee. The two-day convergence will focus on the CAF Club Licensing Online Platform, with in-depth training sessions for users of the platform from the clubs on the CAF Club Licensing regulations framework (Edition 2022) for men and women, and explain mandatory criteria for the domestic and continental competitions amongst others.
CAF launched the Club Licensing Online Platform (CLOP) in 2022, which is an electronic tool system designed to manage the licensing process and stadium inspections for continental and domestic competitions. The Member Associations as licensors will use the CAF Club Licensing Online Platform to operate their licensing system every season. The system is extended to all the CAF national associations in order to be used for continental and domestic license type.
As part of its features, CLOP will allow the Licensors to implement a fully automated and electronic club licensing process for continental and domestic competitions as well as facilitates smooth gathering and real-time visualization of the documents submitted by the licence applicants (clubs) amongst others.
