A two-day national dialogue on sustainable
sports development brought together good number of sports
enthusiast from across the country over the weekend gather at the Independence
Stadium Friendship Hostel hull in Bakau to address the downfallen situation of
the country sporting disciplines particularly football. The National Sports
Dialogue was organized by the National Sports Council under the authority of
the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Lot of issues were used
as the topic of discussion during the two day forum ranging from Sports
Governance, School Sports/Grassroots Sports Development, Technical Development,
Sports Infrastructure, Sports Competition and Sports Financing which provoke
series of comments and contributions from delegates representing sports
associations and zones.
Addressing the gathering on Saturday’s opening, Minister of Youth
and Sports Alieu K. Jammeh said there is everything wrong with our sports
except the unconditional goodwill and continuous financial support coming from
the government.
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| Sports Minister AlieuK. Jammeh |
“It is reasonable to assume that because football always shows
semblance of some degree of organization together with the high passion for it
from the public than other sports, it benefited more in this regard. Nonetheless,
the Government desires a practicable and realistic advancement of our football,
and by extension all other sports from the current quagmire to a more dignified
and highly quantifiable performance and recognition’’.
“The skeletal framework to do that is to have proper governance
structures in sports; to nurture talent from the grassroots; to make sports
more inclusive through decentralization; to develop and manage infrastructure
well; and to secure viable sponsorship deals,” he added.
The minister pointed out that in order to improve on
the effectiveness, collaboration and accountability in the delivery
of sports policies and programs, “the government shall continue to recognize
the autonomy of national associations that are properly registered with the
National Sports Council and affiliated to their respective International
Federations; give support to the development of sports men and women; work to
increase facilities at community and school levels, and ensure that they are
well-maintained; and above all promote transparency, accountability, respect,
excellence and sustainability in the governance of national sports
associations”.
Speaking earlier at the forum, the president of the Gambia
National Olympic Committee (GNOC), Alhagie Momodou Dibba, said the GNOC, the
government and the sporting associations have a shared vision of coordination
and consultation.
Talking about the significance of the forum, Mr. Dibba said, “we
should unite ourselves; the world of sport is changing rapidly, and Gambian
sports needs to evolve to ensure that we are relevant and sustainable”.
Mr Dibba assured that “the GNOC is doing its best in terms of
training, and we need more capacity-building which is significant in sports,”
he said, while urging the participants to put the decisions taken at the forum
into action.
Kebab Yerro Manneh a
social sports commentator who has being advocating for this type of form to be
convey said Gambian sports cannot go further with decentralization of sports to
every corner of the country. He added that one of the fastest ways to move the
country’s sports is by revisiting our grassroots sports at the schools level.
The Gambia’s most
successful sports man Alhagie Beri- Beri Njie speaking from experience said
decentralization of our sports cannot be successful if all the necessary
facilities and structures for sports is not provided to the urban area to the
maximum. He further attributed the reasons for the failures of our sports to
our differences in terms of where our sport discipline leaders come from which
part of the country.
Dodou Bojang former
sports presenter and commentator of GRTS Radio of Lamin advice the Sports
Minister to be consulting when taking certain actions i.e. the ministry need
more technocrats with the knowledge and the technical knowhow of sports. He
suggested that the sports ministry and the GNOC to provide scholarships to
qualified Gambians to make a further study of sporting disciplines around the
world quoting the presidential scholarships to Taiwan and Venezuela as an
example.
More
comments and interviews from the national sports dialogue can read in my
subsequent publications
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