After much planning and false starts, the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) has now declared its objective to make the Gambian league professional in the 2025-26 season.
“The GFF is very much aware that the sports industry has the potential to play a critical role in the socioeconomic development of The Gambia and therefore in order to ensure that the industry consolidate and maintain the gains made in making football socially and economically valuable, it is essential that we now begin to turn our casual spectators into lifelong fans who travel for games and financially demonstrate their continuous support for their teams,” the federation said in a preamble outlining the rationale.
Football House said the purpose of the professional league is to create a business venture that will remain profitable while providing entertainment to an ever-expanding audience.
Currently, the Gambian league offers the least pay and little or no entitlements for players
“A professional league will compel all club owners to run their football as business proving good wages and entitlements to players as well as invest in the games as a business venture. Hopefully we will graduate from our current go where the wind blows or warga warga league and get serious with our football,” a doyen football administrator told The Standard.
He added a professional league will also ensure proper accountability, equal, standard and efficient enforcement of rules and regulations to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.
Meanwhile to kick the ball rolling, the GFF has started the search for a consultant to develop a business plan for the league.
The GFF said a professional will ensure that the clubs have the appropriate physical infrastructure, knowledge, administrative and managerial structures and application in respect of management and organisation as well as to adopt and improve the clubs’ sporting infrastructure. It will also ensure that the clubs improve their economic and financial capacity through proper corporate governance and control and guarantee the continued participation in international competitions of the clubs. “It will also allow the parallel development and comparison amongst the clubs by ensuring the compliance in terms of financial, sporting, legal, administration and infrastructure criteria,” the GFF said.
