The Gambia Government yesterday hosted a state dinner in honour of the Senior National Team of The Gambia to celebrate the country’s historic qualification to the African Cup of Nations for the first time.
The dinner was attended by the First Lady Fatou Bah-Barrow on behalf of President Adama Barrow and was attended by several Cabinet Ministers, amongst which include the Sports Minister, Tourism Minister, Information Minster, Minister for Gender, the Fisheries Minister and the Government Spokesperson.
The President of the Gambia Football Federation, Mr. Lamin Kaba Bajo, his First Vice President Mr. Bakary K. Jammeh, Third Vice President, General Langtombong Tamba, Mr. Sadibu Kamaso, an ExCo Member as well as staff of Football House were also in attendance. Speaking at the dinner, Mr. Bajo hailed the efforts of all those Gambians, deceased and alive, that have made their mark in Gambian football history, noting that when he took over in 2014, the journey was very rough but because they sticked to their goals and objectives, thus, the reason for the reason successes in our football.
Her Excellency the First Lady assured the Scorpions of President Barrow’s undiluted support to help in the advancement of Gambian football. She hailed the efforts of the team for the remarkable achievement, adding that their efforts will be rewarded handsomely by the President.
Honourable Bakary Y. Badjie reaffirmed that when cabinet reconvenes, they will discuss and come to an agreement as to the form of compensation they will give to the players as a qualification bonus. He disclosed that this could be either cash or kind.
Ministers James Gomez and Amat Bah made similar sentiments about government’s commitment to sports development in general. Captain Pa Modou Jagne hailed the efforts of his teammates and the coaching staff, noting that they want to give a good account of themselves at the African Cup in Cameroon, 2022.
For his part, Head Coach Tom Saintfiet, said his dream to Coach The Gambia dates way back to 15 years ago when he signed ex-Scorpion Mustapha Kamal Ndow to play for his Cypriot top flight team. The Belgian, 48, who extended his contract by another five years on Monday, said his next target is to secure a first World Cup spot for the country in Mexico/USA 2026.
“I’ve worked with many boards and this GFF Board is the best in the whole world in terms of support, knowledge of what they want and the commitment to develop football. There is also an impressive input from the Ministry. We couldn’t do it alone so everyone was part of the success, most especially all the players, who were the reason I came here. The Gambia is the smiling coast of Africa and I’m honoured to be the smiling coach of The Gambia,” he added.