1. THE NSC Suspension letter dated 7th May 2014
In paragraph two [2] of the said letter which reads: ”In the wake of your continued and constant refusal to adhere to the directives of the National Sports Council, the NSC has decided to suspend the following Executive Members of the GFF under section 18.1[a] and 18. 2 of the National Sports Council Act 2000 with immediate effect:
· Mr. Mustapha Kebbeh- President
· Mr. Buba Star Janneh- First Vice President
· Mr. Kebba Touray- Second Vice President
· Mr. Basiru Bajo- Third Vice President
You are therefore requested to hand over immediately to the General Secretary.”
a]. It is important to note that 18.1 [a] of the NSC Act 2000 which the NSC used as the legal basis in suspending the GFF leaderships, reads as follows: ”Where the Council considers that any registered National Sports Association has ceased to operate as a National Sports Association, the Council may, after affording the National Sports Association concerned an opportunity of making representation on the matter, suspend, ban or expel all or any of its officers from holding office in any association registered under this act.”
i].The acts of the GFF or its executive in this case do not make GFF a National Sports Association that ceased to operate.
ii]. It is evident that GFF has not ceased to operate as a National Association.
. The GFF is number one National Association in The Gambia that has national character and operates at both national and regional levels. This could be attested to by the ongoing leagues [national and regional].
. The GFF has an established and functional secretariat where executive members frequently visit and meet.
. Based on these facts highlighted above, it is incorrect to suspend our leadership under section 18.1 [a]. Thus, the decision is baseless and unjustifiable.
b].Whereas the application of section 18.1 [a] has proven to be incorrect in this case; therefore the application of section 18.2 is feasible as well. It reads: ”Where the Council has taken any action referred to in sub section [1], the Secretary of State may, on the recommendation of the Council, appoint a committee to administer the affairs of the association concerned.”
. Therefore the move to enforce section 18.2 in this case lacks both moral and legal support.
2. Gambia Football Federation Statues
As far as we the members of GFF are concerned, there is no crisis in GFF that put our statues at halt. In this regard, the National Sport Council is expected to respect and recognise the GFF Statues in resolving matters of GFF.
a]. In the wake of the prevailing circumstances under the statues of the GFF, it is the General Assembly and Executive that have the mandate to suspend a member or official [sub sections 16.1 and 16.2] of GFF statues.
. Sub section 16.1 of GFF statues reads ”The General Assembly is responsible for the suspension of any member or official. The executive committee may however suspend with immediate effect, any member or official guilty of serious or repeated violations of its obligations. Such suspension shall last until next general assembly unless it is lifted earlier.”
b]. Sub-section 16.2 reads: ”Any suspension shall be confirmed by a two-thirds majority of votes cast at the general assembly. If it is not confirmed, the suspension is automatically lifted.”
3. Resolutions
In the light of the above facts, we the undersigned members of GFF [21 out of 33 members which represent 33 votes out of 51 or 65 percent of the entire membership] hereby resolved as follows:
1. The GFF does not cease to operate as a National Association that should warrant the leadership to be suspended and replaced by National Sports Council and the Minister under section 18.1[a], and 18.2 of the National Sports Council Act 2000.
2. The decision to suspend and replace the leadership of GFF is not only a violation of the GFF Statues but the NSC Act 2000 and therefore is totally unacceptable.
3. Only the elected members of the GFF are recognised by the members whom we are prepared to work with.
4. The NSC is therefore urged to immediately and unconditionally lift the suspension on our elected leaderships within seven [7] days, failure of which, we the members have no other choice but to boycott all league matches and other activities, organised by the interim body.
5. The members accepted Independent Panel [by the Police] to investigate The Gambia U-20 disqualification saga.
6. The football fraternity and the general public are hereby urged to be patient and allow the GFF executive and members to act accordingly in resolving the matter.
By Lamin Cham
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