By: Christian Conteh
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has slammed a ban on Gambia’s Independence Stadium ‘for not meeting the required standard to host CAF A Type competition,’ a letter dated 16th February 2022 has revealed.
This means the country’s AFCON preliminary round qualifier match against Chad will not be played at home.
“CAF has decided to ban the Independence Stadium for failure to meet the required standard to host CAF A Type competition. As such, our (Scorpions) match against Chad scheduled on the 29th March 2022 for the preliminary round qualifiers of the Africa cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 will not be hosted in the Stadium,” Independence Stadium and Friendship Hotel said in a Facebook post.
The statement noted that CAF has instructed the country to bring its stadium up to speed with international standards, this would include massive renovation; re-grassing of the football ground; building of modern substitute benches; floodlights with 1200 lux and a standby generator for evening matches; complete renovation and expansion of the dressing rooms; modern first aid and treatment facilities for players and officials; seats for individual spectators; as well as equipped media facilities and training facilities, should all be done if the country wishes to use the stadium for internationally recognised fixtures.
Although no official statement has come from the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) it is important to note that the stadium management has on several occasions reported about the state of the stadium since 2012.
The stadium which was built in 1983 has not had any major maintenance and or rehabilitation of its facilities
Meanwhile, Gambia Football Federation (GFF), on the 18th February, said the Queen Scorpions would host the return leg of the 2022 Total Energies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at the Independence Stadium on 23rd February 2022, at 16:00 GMT; after their 8-0 away lost to the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon at the Stade Omnisports Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé on Friday afternoon; in the first leg of the Morocco edition of the competition.
The match is expected to be played behind closed doors due to the current COVID-19 Protocols and requirements of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
