By: Dawda Baldeh
Youth and sport minister Bakary Y Badjie has described 2022 as the ‘most successful year’ in Gambian sporting history’. He made the statement during a site visit at the Independent Stadium where renovation exercise is ongoing.
“We consider 2022 as the most successful year in our sporting history. It is the year we qualified for AFCON for the first time and the team went up to the quarter-final of the African Cup of Nations. There is nothing bigger than that in our sports,” Minister Badjie told journalists on Wednesday.
He added that Gambians athletes have also been doing well in 2022.
“The athletes won a gold medal in Mauritius; they went to Birmingham in the Commonwealth Games and won a silver medal for the first time, and also to the Islamic Games where they won gold medal for the relay and 200m…,” he narrated.
He further highlighted the performance of Gambia U20 team in the WAFU Championship where the team secured qualification to participate in the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt 2023.
He reiterated that the country under his Ministry, with support from the government, made massive improvements in all sporting disciplines in 2022.
Minister Badjie underscored progress made during the recently concluded NAYCONF that brought together young people from different regions and backgrounds across the seven regions of the country to explore their talents.
“We have seen the display of talents in all sporting activities by the youths who are potential national assets. The NAYCONF is a way to bring out talents from rural areas. We saw the records some of them made, like Lamin Basse who made a very good record in athletics. Like many others, he could be an asset for the country,” he concluded.
