By Lamin Cham
There we go again. The same old story. The Gambian representatives have both crashed out of Caf club competition at the very first lap. Well one may ask whether that in itself is a surprise, given the quality of the opposition for both Hawks and GAF but how long are we going to allow ourselves to be humiliated right here on our soil and right in front of our very fans? When shall this nightmare of international football nights end at the Stadium? Just what is missing?
The answer to these and many other pressing questions in the woeful failure in our recent football history needs an honest discussing and some straight talking.
You see, whereas some stakeholders may want the GFF to vouch for the millions spent on some toilets at the Gold or silver project in Yundum, I and many of my types as fans are in sports for the actual thing, the game. And to be frank Gambian football, I mean football, the game, is not progressing. I have since forgotten when last was an international night when Gambians dispersed from the stadium joyfully. Yet anytime you talk about our football going in the sink, voices will echo from all corners suggesting you are on a hate speech if not a witch-hunting mission. Well here is message to football House: the so-called disgruntled fans or witch hunters may have misdirected or misguided their motives, but they share one opinion with the general public:
Football is dying. No amount of niceties, glamorous presentations and superlative administrative structures can change the fact that people need answers and some sound answers to the continuing decadence in Gambian football as far as the internationals are concern. What is needed is commitment and tangible will to change what is not working. Yes today we may blame Hawks and GAF for flopping big-time on the international stage but their troubles are not different to our own nightmare as football no hopers, at least in recent times.
