In the wake of a heated argument about the status of the newly elected president of the Women Football Federation Sainabou Cham, (in relations to her membership of the GFF executive committee), The Standard mounted an investigation into her status and wider GFF constitional matters relating to next year’s national football elections.
According to the GFF constitution, the president of the women football association automatically becomes a member of the GFF national executive committee as 4th vice president.
With the GFF executive committee members widely considered not eligible for reelection in respect of a constitutional provision limiting their term to 2026, stakeholders have asked whether Madame Cham is eligible to be elected as women’s football president in the first place.
The Standard’s investigations have established that only GFF executive members who were elected directly by the members of the federation at an elective congress, and have served two terms, will not be eligible for election in 2026.
In the case of Sainabou Cham, her election as women president makes her automatically the 4th vice president of the GFF , reserved by the GFF constitution for any women football president, meaning her position is already sealed in the current and future GFF executive unless she ceases to be president of women football.
As to which other GFF executive members are not eligible for reelection, The Standard discovered that going by the GFF constitution the following people cannot be reelected in 2026; Lamin Kaba Bajo – president, Bakairy Jammeh- 1st vice president and Ebou Faye- 2nd vice president. However the 3rd vice president, Numu Kunda Kanyi, is eligible as he had served only one term.
In the same vein, John Frankie Mendy an ordinary member elected to represent referees and Arret Njie-Jah one of the two women representatives, are both eligible since they have both served only one term.
However according to our findings, the other women representative in the executive, Maimuna Kanteh and Ismaila Ceesay representing schools football, are not eligible as they are on their second term.
