Police in the Gambian capital Banjul at the weekend detained the executive members of the Gambia Football Federation (GFF).
Kairo News correspondent who confirmed the story said the detained football officials include President Mustapha Kebbeh, his three Vice Presidents, Secretary General Abass Bah and four other executive committee members.
The officials, who were detained at Banjul Police Station, have not been charged with any crime at the time of piecing together this story.
The arrest and detention followed the suspension of the GFF Executive by the Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Council this week in the wake of the Confederation of African Football’s banning of the Gambia from continental football for fielding an over aged player.
Youth and Sports Minister Alieu Jammeh accused GFF officials of violating the National Sports Council’s Act and for also failing to fulfill their obligations and responsibilities.
A five-member interim committee has been set up to steer the affairs of the GFF.
Football clubs have already expressed dissatisfaction about the government intervention, accusing the Sports Minister of being too intrusive. They vowed to protest against the suspension of the executive that came into office following a hotly contested election last July. These club officials said it was not fair to punish an executive in such a harsh manner, considering their fast pace of progress in less than a year into office.
Kairo News will follow the story and keep its readers posted on the unfolding developments.
Ends
Mad, Bad & Sad if this arrest is true.
None of these people would have wanted the Gambia out of the cup. The age oversight was either a) a misunderstanding
b) an understandable oversight since all the players INFACT remain Under-20 and or
c) at worse incompetence – IF the 1st January 1995 rule had been noted and understood by the GFF Executive.
Neither a) b) or c) is a criminal offence warranting the arrest and detention of these people.
The order to “Arrest and Detain” seems to be the hobby of some big guys in Banjul…
It’s all about “Teaching people a lesson”, isn’t it..? No desire to follow procedures to fix things..Just vengeance…
Otherwise, what has the police got to do with what seems to be sheer Incompetence and Negligence of the GFF Officials…
Okay, the consequences of their failures and incompetence is serious because there may be further sanctions, never mind the national disgrace, but the National Sports Council or any body that is responsible for overseeing the running of the GFF should be able to deal with this mess….
But Yaya Jammeh’s “long arm” of interference will not let anyone get on with their roles and responsibilities without interference. ..
Since he “knows” more than anyone else, he likes.to micro-manage every facet of our lives…
By the way, this is what you get when you put square pegs in round holes and we in The Gambia are specialists in this field…