By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
Reacting to video footage of him consulting Ebou Faye and Cho Drammeh on the Scorpions bench, the head coach of the senior national team of the Gambia, Tom Saintfiet, has rebutted claims that he side-lined his assistant coach Alagie Sarr to consult GFF 2nd vice president Ebou Faye and team manager Cho Drammeh in the Gambia’s two-nil lost to Mali, adding that he, in fact, requested for Ebou Faye to be part of his technical setup.
The Scorpions gaffer received a barrage of criticisms for the defeat against Mali in Bamako where video footage of him surfaced consulting Ebou Faye and Ousman Cho Drammeh instead of his assistant coach Alagie Sarr. However, he told The Fatu Network that Alagie Sarr is his first assistant coach, and he’s been part of every discussion on the bench.
“Alagie Sarr is my first assistant coach, and he was sitting on the right side and Ebou Faye on the left side of Ousman Drammeh. They were all sitting on the bench and were part of the discussion. He is involved in every discussion. I was talking to all four of them. I am not responsible for the camera view. When I talk to them, I stand in the middle to talk to all four. So, if the camera shows only one side of the two, it doesn’t mean that I was talking to only two (Ebou Faye and Cho Drammeh),” he clarified.
According to Tom Sainfeit, the presence of the second vice president of the GFF on the bench was his request, noting that he discusses team selection and tactics with everyone.
“It was on my request that Ebou Faye is part of our technical team. Ebou Faye is a football man and everyone who has something to add can help us to achieve our goals and that is what I do. I have no problem with the support of Ebou Faye,” Tom stressed.
