The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) on Wednesday launched the FIFA Amateur Football Country report at a ceremony held at the Metzy Residence Hotel in Kololi. This historic milestone event brought together key actors in the development of football for the presentation of the report, where participants were taken through the thematic areas of amateur football dynamics in the Gambia.

Declaring the session opened, the first Vice President, Mr. Bakary K. Jammeh, congratulated the GFF Technical Department and said the report contains the facts and realities on the ground. Mr. Jammeh said the Gambia’s rebranding and reorganization of football has yielded fruit and, as such, will now reposition to align with the global football trajectory. He thanked the FIFA Technical Consultants for their good work, while congratulating the stakeholders for contributing to the country’s goals as outlined in the report.

On the relationship of football managers at the GFF, Mr. Jammeh, who is also the head of Administration and Finance at the Football House, noted that the Kaba-led administration is very particular about the relationship that exists amongst the management staff at Football House. “The relationship at the leadership of football in the Gambia is cordial and it’s improving steadily,” he said.

On the collaboration of the GFF and the government of the Gambia, the 1st VP thanked the Gambia government for the support extended to football over the period. He thanked the Minister of Youth and Sports Hon Bakary Y. Badjie for his dedication and support for football development. He noted that the journey of the report, which started in 2022 has yielded fruits and as such thanked the Minister of Youth and Sports as a key Partner to the GFF.

Mr. Jammeh finally described the report as a key and clear policy document that will lead the GFF to improve on amateur and grassroots football, noting that amateur football is the base of football in the Gambia. He said the trajectory is to ensure that the Gambia can get back to its glory days in youth football and be back to the World Cup.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the National Sports Council, Mr. Lamin S. Jawara, who also represented the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, applauded the GFF for the historic milestone achievement. “This is a good initiative and it’s indeed a remarkable improvement for football in the Gambia,” he stressed. He noted that the achievements registered in school football are targets by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, “because MoBSE is committed to encouraging sports and partnering with the GFF for the future.”

The FIFA Technical Consultant, Mr, Serame Letsoaka from South Africa, thanked the football stakeholders for their attendance. He described the organisation of the event as phenomenal and congratulated the GFF for putting up a very good work ahead of the event. Mr. Letsoaka said the Gambia has a unique relationship amongst its football leaders and thus applauded the GFF for creating such an environment for people running football. “This is a reflection of what FIFA wants to see across the football in the world,” he asserted.

Participants were later divided into groups, while the FIFA Technical Consultants Ali Mwebe from Uganda and Serame Letsoaka led the seminar on presentation of the country report where the stakeholders deliberated on the report’s findings and took part in group works.