The President of the Republic of The Gambia, Alhagie Dr Yahya Jammeh, yesterday received at State House the Executive Bureau of the Commonwealth Games Federation, which comprises 71 nations in the world.

Accompanied to State House by a high powered delegation including Sheriff Gomez, the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport, their visit was meant to brief the Gambian leader on the three-day general assembly of the Federation in The Gambia.

Speaking at the meeting held at the cabinet room of State House, President Jammeh thanked the Federation for choosing The Gambia for such an important event. He told the delegation that his passion for sports is due to the fact that it is one of the pillars that ensure peace and stability in a society. 
He told them that the importance of Sports cannot be overemphasized as it fosters peace, stability and understanding. “Seeing young people meet and make friends through sports is most reassuring and shows that the future of humanity is bright.

Sports is the only competition that ensures absolute peace and tolerance.  It is the only competition that allows people to compete, and at the end of the day, the loser embraces the winner,” the Gambian leader observed.

“Looking at the Olympic games, I have seen humanity in its greatest diversity.  People come from different corners of the earth, with diverse religions and races and stay together for days without a single incident.  This is unprecedented,” President Jammeh said, adding that this goes a long way to show how significant sports is.

According to the Gambian leader, sports is another key way of eradicating unemployment as it encourages young people to be responsible.  He then observed that through sports, the ideas of fair play and discipline are inculcated in the minds of young people.  He added that it also teaches them to accept failure for improvement in the future.

The Gambian leader thanked the Federation for giving the country the chance to host the meeting. This is the second time it is being hosted on the continent. While assuring them of his support towards the development of sports for the purpose of nation building, President Jammeh also spoke at length about the faithfulness of Gambians to Almighty Allah, which he said is one of the reasons for the friendly nature of Gambians.

Michael Fannal, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, hailed the Gambian leader’s commitment to the cause of sports development.  The CGF president told the Gambian leader that one of their objectives for the Banjul meeting is to review the preparation of the commonwealth games.

The CGF president spoke at length about The Gambia’s hospitality, adding that since they landed on Gambian soil, they have felt at home.  He acknowledged the support given by the Gambian government, adding that the country’s Foreign Affairs department has aided them very much by ensuring that visas and other facilities were available to the delegates of the 71 member countries.

Sheriff Gomez, the secretary of state for Youth and Sports thanked The Gambian leader for the visit accorded to them.  SoS Gomez also spoke about the president’s keen interest in youth and sports development.

Abdou Dandeh Njie, the president of The Gambia National Olympic Committee told the delegation that The Gambia is lucky to be blessed with a dynamic leader who has real passion for sports. While acknowledging the president’s support to the National Olympic Committee, Dandeh Njie hailed him for his personal intervention in the development of Gambian sports.

In a show of appreciation  for The Gambian leader’s exemplary role in the development of sports and support for the Federation, the CGF president awarded a certificate of appreciation to President Jammeh. In the same vein, the Gambian leader was also decorated with the General Assembly batch indicating his involvement in the CGF General Assembly.

The vibrant call made by Vice-President Aja Isatou Njie-Saidy for the formation of a national women’s federation in The Gambia is an important move, as a building is made strong by the proper interlocking of its bricks.

It is a well-known fact that President Yahya Jammeh has always championed the cause of women through a genuine empowerment process. He has gone further to appoint them to key positions.

As such, Gambian women are ipso facto given the opportunity to take part in the decision making process. But without a national federation, the task of empowering them will continue to face numerous obstacles.
 
The multiplicity of associations, objectives, and approaches is usually a positive social feature because it offers a variety of choices, but it also weakens the various organizations.

In order to put up a united front and go ahead with their struggle, women need to have a unique forum. This forum is the ideal platform to make women's voices heard.

If the organisations cooperate in creating a national women’s federation, their members will be able to present a unified front and to achieve the objective of putting women at the centre stage of the development process.

Failure to achieve this ultimate objective could gravely contribute to the weakening of the strength of Gambian women by diminishing their organizational capacity. 
Such an outcome will not only be a great disservice to the cause of women, but will also have negative repercussions on the various groups.

The way forward is clear; move away from fragmentation and work towards the consolidation of the gains of the country’s women movement by establishing an umbrella body to defend the interests of women.

Despite the fact that the existing organisations have been doing a great service to womankind by highlighting their struggle for equity, a national women’s federation could provide enormous opportunity for women to enhance their social status.

Both Guinea and Senegal are lining up a shock move for Gambia’s Belgian coach, Paul Put, Observer Sports has reliably gathered. 

Paul Put remains a primary target of Gambia’s bitter rivals, Senegal, who see the Belgian as one of a number of high calibre candidates they would like to see take charge of the Terenga Lions who have been coachless since the removal of Lamine Ndiaye.

Coach Ndiaye was dismissed as Senegal’s coach barely 24 hours after the Terenga Lion’s shock elimination from the 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup joint qualifiers last month.

This development has seen the Senegalese Football Federation step-up their search for a replacement, with the interim federation keen to bring in a high-profile name.
Paul Put guided the Scorpions to a historic 1-1 draw against the Lions in Dakar last month resulting in the elimination of the 2002 World Cup quarter-finalists.

Prior to Dakar derby match, Paul Put was the subject of discussions in the Senegalese media, with every football pundit admitting to the European’s extra-ordinary technical ability. And now Senegal see the Belgian as a preferred candidate who can help resurrect their ailing football from ground-zero.

Paul Put has confirmed that he has received number of phone calls from both federations, but was quick to add that he wants to remain with the Gambia Scorpions.

Put’s Gambia contract ends in a few months time, but with a pronouncement from the sports-loving Gambian leader that he will be retained as Gambia’s coach, the Belgian is not rushing to consider any offer from outside.

Delegates have started arriving for the 2008 Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly to be held in The Gambia between November 18 and 21.

Over 80 delegates from 71 member Commonwealth Games Federations will participate in the Banjul high-profile meeting, which will be coordinated by the Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC).

George Gomez, executive director of the National Olympic Committee, told Observer Sports that the majority of the delegates have arrived Banjul evening ahead of the annual assembly which will kick off on Tuesday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.

The delegates, during the three-day gathering, will discuss on a number of pertinent issues with the main focus on the successful organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games scheduled to take place in Delhi, India.

A senior officer of the Common Wealth Games Federation, Ms. Sue Whiteworth, yesterday, at the Sheraton Hotel, presided over the launch of a Media Sub Committee as part of preparations of the 2008 Commonwealth Games General Assembly to be hosted in Banjul in November.

The Media Sub Committee chaired by Peter Gomez, included Dodou Bojang, Isatou Bittaye, Sainabou Kujabi, Namory Trawally and Ndey Busso.

In her launch statement, Ms Sue Whiteworth pointed out that the Common Wealth General Assembly will kick off on the 16th November 2008 and run until the 20th.

Ms. Whitworth who is currently on a short assessment tour of Gambia’s readiness for this major international sporting event said the first Common Wealth General Assembly in Africa was held in Kenya in 1986.

“We are preparing for the forthcoming event to be hosted in The Gambia this year,” she added.

George Gomez, executive director of The Gambia National Olympic Committee, expressed optimism that the event will be a successful one stating that 71 Common Wealth countries are expected to attend.

For his part, the chairperson of the Media Sub Committee, said the committee will do their best to ensure that all Gambians are well informed about the event. He urged colleagues in the media to play their intermediary role of disseminating information concerning the event to the people.

The first vice president of the G NOC, Fred Lloyed Evans, advised the Media Sub Committee members to disseminate any information regarding the event to all Gambians and the outside world.

The event, slated for November 2008, will be a week-long meeting of the 71-Member Organisations of the Common Wealth, and will be co-ordinated by The Gambia National Olympic Committee.

The Media Sub Committee will work ahead of the event for a successful hosting by The Gambia and ensure that the event is given maximum publicity.

The Federation of The Gambia Muslim Students Organisation (FEGAMSO) recently organised a two-day leadership workshop for over 30 young people.

The training, held at LatriKunda Sabiji Upper Basic School, dwelt on topics such as the role of youths in nation building, women in leadership, skills enhancement and self-development among others.

Speaking at the occasion, Abdul Aziz Jorbateh Fofana ex-president of FEGAMSO briefed the participants about the history of the organisation. According to him the organisation. It was founded in 1995 with the aim of promoting and propagating the teachings of Islam, to foster unity among Muslim brothers and sisters in the country and to help Muslim students organise themselves at institutional level by forming their own associations or strengthening the existing ones.

He advised the youths to be proactive in their religion, adding Islam needs young people.

He stated finance and commitment from members, mobility as some of the constraints facing the organisation.

Mustapha Barry, president of the organisation, said that FEGAMSO is the umbrella body tasked with the responsibility of co-ordinating the affairs of Muslim students and all school-based Islamic clubs and societies.

He said that over the years they have registered so many successes but much more needs to be done.

The new Executive Secretary of the National Sports Council, Mr. Alieu Cham, has indicated that he has noted all the claims of the speakers from both sides of the current row brewing in The Gambia Karate Association. He said he will go on with his investigations and finally call the clubs to choose their new executive to run the affairs of the GKF.

He made his statement during the last unsuccessful congress of the Gambia Karate federation. The congress turned out to be a talking forum after some members of the GKF took the floor to defend their voting rights and to explain the root cause of the trouble for the last year.

The members of the Shotokan Karate-Do International (SKI-Gambia), an Association of 17 clubs that are said to be under the GKF, have no voting rights in the federation. This has been the main cause of the trouble of the Federation.

The SKI was founded by the founding father of Karate in The Gambia Mohammed Kaba Musa. He stood to clarify the issue of the SKI saying that it has been part of the federation and has been law abiding for the past five years. His reason for introducing the SKI was because it was only The Gambia that was not practicing it all over the world. And the SKI has being in existence since he was the president of the federation

The former executive is still claiming that they have never acknowledged the existence of the SKI in The Gambia.

The executive secretary of The Gambia Karate Federation, Muhammed Camara, claimed that they have never acknowledged any registration of clubs for the last five years of their term. The clubs they inherited are the only ones they maintained up to now.

Contrary to what they said, Muhammed Danso of the SKI claims that is not true and will make sure that the truth is revealed soon.

Some practitioners of Karate are desperate and blame the executive of being selfish and greedy. They appeal to the SOS for Youths and sports to help solve this problem as they say it is only causing enmity and not benefiting Karate in The Gambia.

This news was declared by the National Sports Council after having a meeting with the member clubs last week at the Head Office of the National Sports Council at the Independence Stadium.

The clubs presented unanimously agreed upon holding their election on Saturday the 19th of July 2008 at the National Independence Stadium at 10am.

According to the developments Officer of the National Sports Council, they have now intervened to resolve the problems of the Karate Federation. According to him, all member clubs should send three delegates and that the election will be held according to the constitution of The Gambia Karate Federation.

A notification letter for the election will also sent to all member clubs to exercise their constitutional rights. This is only done to resolve the ongoing problems hindering the development of Karate. Which according him, is not in the interest of the clubs members or Nation.

For that being the case, clubs and practitioners are expected to maintain the Karate discipline they are known for when coming to choose their new executive.

Important dignitaries will be there to observe this long awaited election. A free and fair re-election will definitely be enhanced by the National Sports Council.

Women’s Federation Nursery school in Brikama yesterday benefited from football jerseys which were donated by Lamin King Colley President of the Brikama Youths and Sports Committee.

According to Alkali Cham, Sports Coordinator to Nursery Schools in Western Region, Women’s Federation Nursery school is one of the oldest Nursery schools from the area. This was why it was decided to award jerseys to the school which, among many other things, helps to develop sports at that level.

He seized the opportunity to announce that Brikama will organise their first ever inter nursery school sports event at the end of the third term and will be again sponsored by Lamin King Colley.

He stated that nursery school sports should be well considered and will make sure that come the inter-school competition, all schools will be represented.

Speaking at the presentation, Lamin King Colley tasked the Sports Committee in charge of Nursery schools affairs in the area to come up with programmes of activities that will promote their sports with the help of sponsorship.

He said the donation is part of his contribution in developing grassroots sports for nursery schools. He added similar gestures are expected in future.

The headmaster of the school Ousman Touray, who witnessed the presentation at the school ground, expressed appreciation to the gesture.

Meanwhile at a congress organised by the Brikama Youths and Sports Association over the weekend, the following people while elected into office contrary to what was stated in Tuesday’s issue.

1.Lamin King Colley-  President

2.Pa Ansu  Nyass  1st Vice President

3.Nyankou  Touray  2 Vice President

4.Borry Jarju  Secretary General

5.Alhagie  Tamba  Jammeh  Ass. Secretary General

6.Karamo  Jarju  Treasurer

7.Samsideen  Bojang  Ass. Treasurer

8.Alasana Bojang Social Secretary

9.Busia Ebrima Drammeh Ass. Social Secretary

10.Sarjo Sorah Auditor

11.And 15 other co-opted members