Where Youth & Sports Ministry Erred

Musa Fatty The Author and Publisher o this sports-blog

Three major mistakes of Youth & Sport Ministry in 2011/12 that have hindered progress of Gambian football

The three major mistakes committed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS) in the year 2011/12 that have seriously hindered the progress of Gambian football are:  the sacking of the senior national team head coach Paul Put, the dissolution of the former GFA executive and the setting-up of the GFA Normalization Committee.

All these three actions were carried out by the ministry without consultation and positive advice from people or technocrats who have the technical know-how of the game and what would have been the consequences of such decisions. 

The people involved in taking these actions, though they were doing it in the interest of Gambian football, should not have done it as a way of witch-hunting others in the sporting circle.

The sacking of the senior national team head coach Paul Put before the end of his first four-year contract by the ministry and his replacement with Peter Bonu Johnson by the same ministry and not by the FA, is a gross mistake by the apex  sports authority of this country.

The decision to appoint Peter Bonu Johnson sent aback many football enthusiasts who had not even fully recovered from the pains of the sacking Paul without fulfilling his promise of qualifying the national team to the CAF and FIFA championships.

Since the departure of the Belgium tactician late last year, the Scorpions have lost their beautiful way of playing which they adopted during the days of Paul.

Few months later, Paul signed another contract within the same West African region with Burkina Faso for four years to replace their sacked coach Paulo Duwateh from France.

He took the risk of coaching the Burkinabe national team in that crucial stage with the promise of qualifying that country to the 2013 CAF championship in South Africa.

Paul’s promise was fulfilled with an emphatic 3-1 win over Central Africa in the last match of the qualifying round after coming from behind; he was successful when he was provided with all the necessary support from both the FA and government of Burkina Faso.

Secondly, the dissolution of the former GFA executive was also another serious factor that contributed to the deteriorating performance of the Gambia national football teams. Again, when the FA was dissolved, the country’s football height went down to square one.

This was a moment when some individuals used to toil or organize games for the national teams in any FIFA calendar date.

These former executive members used to try by all means for the national teams to participate in any competition without withdrawing from taking part, and in most cases the country was coming out of those competitions with impressive performance and results.

Third, the setting-up of the Normalisation Committee of the GFA to normalize the country’s football for an initial period of three months, which was later extended to six months validated period by the world football governing body FIFA in Zurich. This took place after government delegates including members of the normalization committee visited FIFA to explain to this world football body that government’s intervention in football should not result in the suspension of the country from participating in international sport.  The committee’s mandate was therefore extended to another six months which expires in March 2013.

Over this short period, we have seen the Gambian football moving from the frying pan to the hot fire, and Gambia has started conceding the worst defeats in the history of the country’s football, with our national teams conceding more than three or four goals in a game, which was not the case in the last sixteen years in all categories of national teams.

The abysmal showing of the female U-17 national team in the recent U-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan is another case in point. The saddest of all events is when Gambia withdrew from two different tournaments: the U-17 and U-20 male categories of CAF qualifying campaign all in space of six months. 

“The sacking of the senior national team head coach Paul Put before the end of his first four-year contract by the ministry and his replacement with Peter Bonu Johnson by the same ministry and not by the FA, is a gross mistake by the apex  sports authority of this country.”

“Over this short period, we have seen the Gambian football moving from the frying pan to the hot fire, and Gambia has started conceding the worst defeats in the history of the country’s football.”