A number of officials from several sports associations affiliated to the Gambia National Olympic Committee GNOC, on Friday expressed opposition to the committee’s plan to postpone its election until next year.
Last week, the GNOC announced it has got a consensus through a resolution from the majority of its members to go by an IOC advice allowing NOCs to extend their mandates from 2020 to next year following the postponement of the Olympic Games.
However, addressing a press conference Saturday Peter Prom, president of the Gambia Table Tennis Association said the GNOC constitution has no law which states that decisions can be made through circulars or resolutions. Every resolution or decision on any process can only be made at a general assembly. The GNOC had an opportunity to call an AGM but did not do that. The IOC did impose postponement of elections on any NOC, it only advise. And in any case, the GNOC did not even make this IOC circular sent since April known to its entire membership,” Prom argued.
Lamin King Colley, the president of the combined forces sports association, who wants to contest for the presidency of the GNOC, said he would not sit by and watch individuals take the national cake and play with it anyhow they like.” We are waiting for the National Sports Council to decide on our petition which hopefully will be available next year. In the absence of that, we are ready to go to the high court to get to the bottom of this,” he warned.
Another official, Johny Gomez of the Gambia Cricket Association, GCA, accused the GNOC of holding only one AGM in their entire four years in office.
The stakeholders also alluded that the GNOC did not disclose funds allocated by the IOC for Covid relief as Football House has done with Fifa Covid-19 relief funds.
The Standard contacted the GNOC secretary general, Aboulie Jallow who said his committee is calling a press briefing today, Monday, to respond, with evidence, to all the allegations made by the stakeholders. “It is ridiculous to say that the association who signed the resolutions through their presidents and or secretary generals are not valid and to suggest that IOC has provided Covid money to Gambia. Anyway, we are coming with a fitting reply Monday,” Mr Jallow said.
