By Sulayman Bah
Gambia Football Federation (GFF) are tight-lipped over the suspensions of their key trio executives which includes president Lamin Kabba Bajo.
A dispatch written by National Sports Council’s Executive Secretary Marcel Mendy talks of the suspension of three key executives of the federation namely Lamin Kabba Bajo, Bakary K. Jammeh and Ebou Faye.
The council’s move, based on section 18 of the National Act 2000, followed recommendation by parliament’s select committee on youth and sports urging for an action be taken on the Football House.
The suspended trio are to hand over duties to vice-president Abdoulie Jallow, left out by incumbent Kabba in his manifesto, according to the council’s viral communiqué.
Dozen efforts to get GFF’s supremo Kabba’s latest reaction on the saga yesterday proved vain while Ebou Faye says he’s unaware of his reported ban.
This is not the first time the council is imposing bans on the aforesaid persons after they did a similar thing at the onset of this protracted saga, warning them further to desist from coming any close to the Football House headquarters – a thing Kabba and his crew refused to heed to, threatening instead to drag the council to the courts.
The ongoing 11-month row between government’s technical arm, the Council, and GFF has led to fresh fears of a Nigeria-type of football saga occurring in Gambia.
GFF have always accused the council, the country’s sports regulatory organ, of witch-hunt with FIFA also known to have tough stance against third-party interference with the running of football.
GFF scheduled August presidential election in doubt?
The federation’s congress is due August 18th but the process, it is feared, may not hold after the council reportedly asked the GFF electoral body not to go ahead with the planned elections, Foroyaa Sport understands.
If however the polls go on, unhindered, it will see six incumbents office bearers (from Kabba’s camp) get elected unopposed with only the president and third vice-president roles to be competed for.
This comes after the electoral body turned down six of Presidential candidate Malick Sillah’s members nomination papers – a verdict upheld by the appeals committee.
The election entity based its argument on grounds that the dropped six gave ‘false information’ to the set up – a move highly criticised in some quarters amid claims it’s a ploy to destabilise Malick N.K. Sillah’s team who is rivaling incumbent Kabba Bajo for the hot-potato GFF presidency.
Malick and his backers last week lodged a protest to the National Sports Council- general overseer of sporting bodies – seeking their intervention –whose tempestuous ties with the football federation is everyone’s knowledge.
