A five-day FIFA intermediate refereeing course kicked off in Bansang on Tuesday, in the administrative capital of the Central River Region (CRR). The course, a programme funded by FIFA and organised by The Gambia Football Federation (GFF), brings together participants from both the south and northern part of the region and came back on the heels of a similar programme held in the Lower River Region (LRR) held over the weekend.
The course kicked off this morning with a practical session, which was followed by a theoretical session in the afternoon. The training is being instructed by Mr. John F. Mendy and Mr. Dickory Jawo while Musa Jallow serves as the fitness instructor with Alhaji Ebrima Faye the Head of Delegation.
The intermediate training in regional Gambia, which will also be held for the Upper River and North Bank regions, is a follow up to the basic referees’ course that was earlier conducted in all the regions to enhance the capacity and knowledge of referees. It is aimed at reinforcing the referees understanding of the scheme and laws of the game in order to enable them arbitrate matches without any hitches.
It could be recalled that following the remarkable achievements made in the training of referees during his first term, the GFF President Mr. Lamin Kaba Bajo, again made referees capacity building as one of his key campaign promises in 2018. True to his promise, the basic course was held in each of the seven administrative regions of the country and the intermediate course will later reach the regions of Kanifing, Banjul, West Coast, North Bank and Upper River.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the LRR event last week, the Governor of the Region Fatou Touray extoled the Federation for decentralising football in the country. “I am very happy that the GFF has come here for this training because it will help us so much to be at par with the Greater Banjul Area. If the training is not given attention, it will affect the performance of the teams because the referees and the players will not be able to perform well,” she said at the Soma Mini Stadium.
