By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of The Gambia Football Federation, Lamin Jassey has come out in defence of the federation’s decision to play the country’s home game in Senegal as the Gambia’s independence stadium faces a temporary ban from hosting international games.
The General Secretary said that playing home games in Senegal is not a shame as opposed to critics’ claims. He argued that the Gambia and Senegal are friendly neighbours, adding that those saying the move is a shame are not getting things clear.
“It is not a shame. They are our neighbours.” He went further: “We are always going to Senegal for our private businesses and Senegalese are here. People that are saying it is shams don’t get it. They are our closest neighbours. We are inter-linked and married”, he pointed out.
He also pointed out that the Senegalese national team at some point played its home game in The Gambia. He explained that standards have lifted, adding that when the independence stadium was built, the current standard was not set up.
The Gambia senior national team will be playing its home games away in Senegal due to the ban meted on the independence stadium.
On the 4th of June, the Gambia will be hosting South Sudan in Thies, Senegal as the qualifies for Ivory Coast 2023 starts.
According to Jassey, since the federation received the notification of the banning of the independence stadium, they forwarded it to the Gambia government and he claimed that the government is working on that.
Speaking to the Federation’s media earlier today, 19th May, the chairman of the events management committee, William Abraham told Gambians that the stadium in Thies is very small, confirming that tickets will be out by next week.
He explained that the capacity of the stadium is eight thousand and seven hundred seats.
