By Lamin Cham
Gambia government on Wednesday released an additional D27,500.000 to cover the budget deficit of the country’s participation in the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon.
The amount was disbursed by the Ministry of Finance to enable the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) for the AFCON to cover the expenses related to qualification and match bonuses for the players and technicians, accommodation, feeding, among others for officials, fans, and journalists who are part of the Gambian delegation in Cameroon. Sources told The Standard that the additional money became necessary after the team progressed to the quarterfinals which requires more expenses on all fronts.
Meanwhile, having arrived at the quarter finals the Gambia have at this stage earned herself $1.175M and it could be more if the team progresses in the tourney. Accordingly, the GFF has announced it will pay each player $10,000 for reaching this far.
Earlier in the group stages, the government doubled the match bonuses of the players right down to the round of 16 stage.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports thanked its sister institution, Ministry of Finance, and the entire government machinery for the enormous support to the Afcon programme.
The Gambia is playing host Cameroon tomorrow Saturday at 4pm for a place in the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations. Already, the country made headlines across the globe as the least fancied and lowest ranked team in the tournament to reach the last 8 as debutants.
