The Normalisation Committee of the GFF vetted my nomination and is eventually said to have disqualified my candidature due to reasons they said have been my involvement in the alleged receiving of money from the Qatari Muhammed Bin Hammam.
I want to categorically state that the reasons for nullifying my candidature for the office of the GFF president are bogus, erroneous and misleading.
Let me begin to say that my relationship with Bin Hammam dates back to 2001 during a Caf general assembly meeting when I was serving as the second vice president of the Gambia Football Association, GFA.
We knew each other as colleagues and friends and have been exchanging ideas and have met at Fifa and Caf meetings alongside the Fifa Development Officer for our region West Africa, discussing topics on the development of our respective countries. I have known him for his visionary ideas in football hence his position as Chairman of the Fifa Goal Project.
Since 2005 when I became president of GFA, The Gambia benefited a lot from the Fifa Goal Project, thanks to his approval as the chairman of the Fifa Goal Project. These are the new two storey building called Football House and two new artificial turfs at Brikama and Yundum.
In 2002, he awarded The Gambia a project to build a National Technical Training Centre at Yundum consisting of four buildings named after President Dr Prof Yahya AJJ Jammeh Nasirudeen Babili Mansa, Fifa president Sepp Blatter, Fifa Goal Project chairman Bin Hammam and the Gambia Football Association’s life honorary President Alhaji OB Conateh. Having known him for his visionary ideas in football as the chairman of Fifa Goal Project, I personally invited him to The Gambia to attend the West African Football Union (wafu) general assembly hosted at the Kairaba Beach Hotel attended by 14 out of 16 West African nations which was opened by the former Minister of Youth & Sports, Sheriff Gomez and graced by former Wafu vice president and honorary GFA president Alhaji Ousman B Conateh and members of the football fraternity.
During this visit to The Gambia, the Office of The President provided vehicle and security for him and his entire delegation. Let me further tell you that I am not an executive member of Fifa to have any voting right which could have influenced or put me in position to receive money from Muhammed Bin Hammam in exchange of favours as wrongly interpreted by the GFF Normalisation. I was just a president of a football association and also a member of Fifa development committee whose membership does not have any voting mandate to decide Fifa venues of matches or otherwise.
My personal relationship with Bin Hammam is still very strong as we often speak to each other to date. Let me reveal to you that Mr Bin Hammam had personally invited me in 2011 to spend Tobaski (Eid-ul-Adha) with his family in Doha, Qatar and that has further cemented our relationship. (See photo taken with him on Tobaski day at his Doha residence) The Qatari has always been my personal friend and any time I need his support I always send him requests to assist me personally and he will never hesitate to assist when the need arises. I will never be a betrayer to Muhammed Bin Hammam because of his support in the Fifa Goal Project for The Gambia and that shows that there is a good relationship between The Gambia and Qatar.
So for the purpose of clarity, I Seedy MB Kinteh have never received any monies from Muhammed Bin Hammam for the purpose of influencing me to vote in his favours.
I must express my dismay and disappointment to the members of the GFF Normalisation Committee for basing my disqualification on the wrong and erroneous belief that money has been given to me in exchange of Fifa votes, which has been one of their reasons for turning down my nomination for the position of GFF president. I guess this clarification will set the records right to the NC, football stakeholders and the general public.
Seedy MB Kinteh
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