By Zackline Colley
The Minister of Youths and Sports, Bakary Y. Badjie, has said the government is prioritizing the development of sports infrastructure over participation in international competitions to revamp the nation’s sports sector.
Badjie made these remarks in an interview with Demba Jang Media.
The Minister acknowledged that the government has been actively supporting various sports associations, particularly when they participate in international competitions.
However, he expressed concerns over the internal management of these associations, stating that some only begin to fulfil their responsibilities when faced with the prospect of competing abroad.
“We do sometimes hear noise from associations accusing us of not supporting them. But often, this is because we have told them they are not qualified to go internationally,” he said.
He stressed that the government has established a policy requiring associations to demonstrate proper organization and success at the national level before they can receive support for international participation.
Badjie also revealed that his ministry has reduced its financial support for certain associations, particularly those that have not shown sufficient progress domestically.
“Even when we were preparing for the African Games, we had to remove some disciplines from the list because we hadn’t seen much activity from them in the country,” he said.
A new sports policy has been developed, focusing on the categorization of sports disciplines, with priority given to those deemed essential for the country’s athletic development.
The Minister noted, “We think prioritizing sports infrastructure development should be the key for the next three years. This will allow us to create a strong pool of athletes.”
Addressing the regulatory challenges faced by the National Sports Council, the Minister admitted that the current legislative framework does not grant the council sufficient authority to oversee and regulate sports associations effectively.
“What we had before was just a National Sports Council Act, which establishes a council but does not give it a lot of powers to regulate the associations and sports in the country,” he explained.
To tackle this issue, the ministry has developed a new Sports Bill, which is currently under review. Once passed, the bill will empower the council to enforce regulations, establish a sports tribunal, create an anti-doping platform, and introduce a sports development fund.
“We hope this will bring sanity to the sports sector,” Badjie said.
