The President of The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) Mr. Lamin Kaba Bajo has been awarded with the Sports Personality of the Year accolade by the Sports Journalist Association of The Gambia (SJAG) and its 10th National Sports Awards Night held at the Coco Ocean Spa and Resort on Saturday.
The honour, the most prestigious in the SJAG awards category makes Mr. Bajo the most important person in Gambian sports for the year under review, 2018. In announcing Mr. Bajo’s momentous achievement, these exact words were repeated by the master of ceremony, Mr. Lamin Cham, the Editor of the Gambian daily Standard Newspaper, who is credited as the founder of the association more than two decades ago.
Mr. Bajo was also hailed for his exemplary leadership over the years since assuming leadership at the helm of football in The Gambia. The SJAG said Kaba has transformed the administration of football in the country to a recognizable standard in tandem with best practices and thus hailed him for the rigorous dedication he commits to football.
Under his reign at Football House, Kaba invited the President of FIFA, Mr. Gianni Infantino to The Gambia, making it the first time ever that a sitting world football governing president visits the country, which the SJAG further described as a significant development in the history of our football. It is also under Mr. Bajo’s tenure that national leagues and regional clubs are receiving annual subvention from Football House and six stadiums within the Greater Banjul Area as well as 10 others across the country are currently under development, to name just a few.
Among all other candidates nominated for this prestigious award, it was Mr. Bajo who finished in pole position, edging out the rest and been awarded Sports Personality of the Year 2018 and capping off the awards night with avalanche of congratulations to the seasoned Diplomat par excellence and the Football House.
Elsewhere, The Gambia National U-20 Team was also awarded with the Best Local Based Team of the Year at the SJAG Awards following its triumph at the WAFU U-20 Championship in Liberia in 2018.
