MR MINISTER TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT FOOTBALL

By Essa Jallow Now that we’ve seen the first batch of cabinet ministers appointed by President Barrow it is important to start focusing on the task that lie ahead. I was repeatedly asked about my opinion on the appointments and my answer is this; It doesn’t matter to me who’s put at what ministry but what that person is able to do in his tenure in office. At the moment we can’t tell, so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. The appointment of the ministers is a division of labour and let me therefore focus on one that am more comfortable with. While many people are asking questions about missing, tortured and killed people and rightly so, am turning my attention to sports. Mr Hendry Gomez is quoted as saying that our football is zero and he will take it to hundred. Mr Gomez’s predecessor did a lot of damage to our sports especially football. Under him The Scorpions ranking kept going down year after year. The reason for our lackluster performance is that the former minister desmantled our football structures to suit himself and his supporters. First he dissolved the Seedy Kinteh administration accusing them of corruption, and when the football community elected a group that were labeled as Kinteh’s sympathisers, the minister allegedly embarked on another campaign to remove them. When Liberia complained to CAF that Gambia cheated against them in their U20 clash, it was the perfect opportunity for the former Sports Minister Alieu K Jammeh and his supporters. They turned public opinion against the Kebbeh executive and accused them of gross negligence and bringing our football into disrepute. They were aided by some unsuspecting sports journalists in the process. The situation got so bad that nearly the entire Kebbeh executive were detained along with some officials of the ministry of youth and sports at the Police headquarters for days. The police embarked on thorough investigation and the outcome has never been made public until now. The entire Kebbeh executive were never charged with any offense. Mr Gomez, I suggest you liase with your colleague Mai Fatty to find out what happened to that police report. Former Sports Minister Alieu K Jammeh alledgedly continued his clamp down on what is arguably the most dynamic football administration ever to be elected into office. The group were never given a breathing space and were eventually ousted and barred from contesting the subsequent elections. To be contuinued]]>