The Gambia Football Federation GFF has on Wednesday November 29th disbursed nearly D2.6M to League clubs in Div One and Two both male and female at a ceremony held at the Football House in Kanifing.
The money is meant to support league clubs in preparation for the League season 2017/18 and to uplift their transport nightmares has been promised to the stakeholders at the Club Management (pre-season) meeting when the GFF President Lamin Kabba Bajo made the announcement in a packed Friendship Hotel hall at the Independence Stadium late in October.
Shortly before presenting the cheque to the club managers, Mr Bajo acknowledged the fact that League Clubs faced a lot of constraints affecting them and according to him, ‘ it impedes your development because finance is key in the management of clubs’. Mr Bajo noted that accessing funds from FIFA is no longer as easy as it was before hence ‘ stringent rules and regulations which go with proper auditing and accountability procedures’. He said the support to League Clubs is not a promise but an ‘obligation’ by the GFF.
He urged the Club Managers to judiciously use the funds for the purpose of taking care of the transport and logistical needs of the clubs. He said the manner in which the funds have been used will reflect in GFF’s report to be sent to FIFA hence that is a key pre-requisite before accessing the next phase of the support project. ‘ FIFA is very serious about their funds to National Associations because they are audited every six months’. He said the Gambia can pride itself for been counted among a lot of countries that have zero audited queries from FIFA. Mr Bajo informed the Club Managers that the GFF will very soon embark on another project to support and renovate existing playing grounds with support from FIFA.
GFF 1st Vice President and Chairman of the Finance Committee Abdoulie Jallow said the support to League Clubs is GFF Executive’s priority as according to him, management of clubs in The Gambia is hard. ‘But we are very happy to call you here today and fulfill what the President has promised you before’.
GFF Finance Director Kemo Ceesay earlier on called on the Club Managers to thank the GFF Executive for coming to their aid. ‘It is not the responsibility of the GFF to finance our clubs. The club owners should take that burden but since the GFF has come this extra mile, we must commend them for the support and the consideration they give us’. He advised the clubs to look into their structures and governance levels to be able to move on well.
Baa S Jabbie of Brufut United expressed sincere gratitude for what he considered a ‘magnanimous and supportive gesture’ by the GFF to the clubs. ‘We should count ourselves as very lucky having such an Executive that gives huge financial support to its stakeholders’. He finally thanked the GFF President for the lead in such a development and urged his colleagues to make good use of the funds for the purpose of the clubs.
Each of the Clubs in the Male and Female League Div ONE received a cash cheque of Seventy Five Thousand Dalasis (D75,000:00) while Male and Female Div TWO clubs each received Sixty Two Thousand, Five Hundred Dalasis (D62,500:00). The President announced that the final installment of the funds will also be disbursed as soon as the earliest.
