Following the second disapproval by Caf of the Independence Stadium as venue for international matches, the Gambia Government has issued a statement explaining the latest situation.
The full statement reads: “The general public is hereby informed that following the designation of the Independence Stadium for Gambia vs. Comoros Afcon qualifiying match, through a letter from Caf received on 24, October, 2024, and the subsequent visit by a Caf inspector, the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) today communicated a formal letter that indicated that while all the stadium renovation has meet the Caf standards, the state of the playing pitch requires improvements to enable hosting of Category 3 Matches. Subsequently, the Gambia cannot host the match of 15 November, 2024 at the stadium.
In its letter, Caf stated the following: “Following Caf’s inspection of the Independence Stadium on 31 October 2024, we would like to commend the Government of The Gambia, the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) and the stadium management for the significant improvements across various areas of the facility, including dressing rooms, spectator stands, media zones, hospitality services, and other key structural elements. These enhancements represent a positive step forward in aligning with Caf and Fifa standard.
However, we must emphasize that the overall condition of the field of play requires significant improvements to meet the standards necessary for hosting Category 3 Caf or Fifa matches. Due to the current quality of the playing field, Caf is unable to approve the stadium for the upcoming match #106 between Gambia and Comoros during Match Day 5 of the Afcon qualifiers for Morocco 2025. To address this issue, Caf is prepared to support the GFF by providing a pitch specialist consultant to guide with the necessary preparations, to ensure the pitch meets all standards for hosting future Senior International matches”.
The Ministry apologies to the public, who have been eagerly looking forward to welcoming the scorpions back to home grounds and will, moving forward, take the offer of Caf to provide The Gambia a pitch specialist consultant to support the improvements needed.
