Lamin Jarjue, a member of the Foni Bintang Karanai Sports Committee and former presidential candidate in the recent West Coast Regional FA election has responded to his suspension by the Gambia Football Federation GFF by calling on the executive at Football House to resign.
Mr Jarjue was suspended by the GFF after seeking legal remedy in a court in his request for the West Coast Regional FA to supply him with election documents such as the list of delegates used in the March 30 election, which he contested and lost against Mr Abdou Karim Sey.
According Mr Jarjue he needed those documents as a right since he was a candidate but all his efforts to get them were frustrated by the Regional FA in Brikama. Mr Jarjue then took the matter to court, which requested the Regional FA to comply.
However according to Mr Jarjue the next thing he knew, he got a letter from the GFF suspending him. The suspension letter from the GFF stated that Mr Jarjue violated certain rules by seeking remedy in an ordinary court without recourse to the GFF.
However in his response to his suspension Jarjue not only said his suspension is futile since he is not a member of the GFF but also called on the GFF to resign since they have over stepped their boundaries. Read his letter below obtained by The Standard which has been copied to the Minister of Sports, the Sports Council among others:
“Dear Sir,
RE: SUSPENSION FROM GFF
I write to express my disappointment and disapproval of your decision to suspend me from GFF activities conveyed in a letter dated 8th June 2017. To set the records straight, please allow me to inform you that I am not a member of the Gambia Football Federation (GFF). I am only a member of West Coast Sports Committee which is under the direct control and supervision of the National Sports Council (NSC).
Please be further informed that the purported suspension do not affect my legal right to pursue the suit and enforce the Court’s Order against the Defendants. My suspension from the GFF gave me more rights to seek this legal remedy through judicial mechanism. Thus, I am ready to pursue the suit against the Defendants through judicial mechanism or appropriate authority if my request is not granted. Your decision to suspend me is a mere threat and it does not any way affect my legal rights under the law.
You invoked articles 65.1, 65.2, and 65.3 of the GFF Constitution as basis for my suspension. Articles 65 do not relate to election related disputed. It relates to jurisdictional issues in dispute settlement between officials, players, agents and members of the GFF. Therefore, article 65 cited in your letter is not applicable because I am not an official or member of the GFF within a contextual meaning of article 1 of the GFF Constitution, which defined a ‘member’ to mean an entity.
Mr President, the power of suspension is vested in the General Assembly under article 10 of the GFF Constitution. The GFF Executive Committee did not have such power under article 65.3 of the GFF Constitution. You have acted in excess of your executive authority. You have also not followed due process of the law as required of you.
I must therefore unequivocally condemn your despotic and dictatorial tendency that gave rise to the abuse of office and related vices negating the fundamental principles of promoting friendly relations between members of the society and officials of the GFF as envisage under article 6.1 of the GFF Constitution. Your leadership has completely caused disarray and chaotic situation in Gambian Football in the past and in recent times.
It is for these reasons I am calling on you and your team to honourably resign from the GFF for the interest of Gambian Football. I have high regards to the GFF General Assembly and I expect the GFF Executive Committee to be respecter of the GFF Constitution for the promotion and development of Gambian Football rather than venturing in loose battles.”
Yours,
Lamin Jarjue
Foni Jakoi
Bintang Karanai District Sports Committee
