By Mark Baber
March 13 -The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) and renewable energy company, First Eco Partners, held a ceremony the Football House in Kanifing to celebrate the signing of three-year sponsorship deal for the GFF first division league, reportedly worth D3m (£47,000) which was first announced in January.
The GFF has found sponsors hard to come by, with the situation not helped by the country having been suspended from international football due to fielding overage footballers. Although the suspension has been lifted following the election of GFF President Lamin Kaba Bajo as President, the GFF still has some serious obstacles to contend with, including the apparent need for the staff and players to spend time working on the President of Gambia’s farm in order to help in the development of the country.
At the signing ceremony Star Jellow, a deputy for the GFF president, is reported to have said “I am the proudest man today because when I was a footballer, you don’t see thing(s) like this and I thank First Eco Partners for giving us all these money. They are genuine and reliable partners and we encourage them to keep partnering with us because football is very expensive.”
On behalf of First Eco Partners, Ted McEwan thanked the GFF for the opportunity to partner the development of Gambian football while urging other partners to come forward, saying “We welcome any other partners who will like to partner with us and make the current executive and Gambian football a success.”
According to Bakary K Jammeh, an executive member of the GFF, “All of this money is going to be ploughed back to the game, as the winner of the league will take home D300, 000; the runner-up will pocket home D150, 000, and the third place team will get D100,000. The other teams will also get participatory amounts. So the money is not for GFF.”
First Eco Partners, originally based in London UK, sells a fuel additive called Xtreme Fuel Treatment (XFT) which claims to improve fuel efficiency, amongst other claims, as part of a multi-level marketing scheme operated by Syntek, a US company which also sells anti-aging creams. It is worth noting that the US Federal Trade Commission says that “In the past, EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] tested many types of “gas-saving” products as part of its Voluntary Aftermarket Retrofit Device Evaluation Program. Most devices tested had little to no effect on fuel economy or exhaust emissions; some even had a negative effect.”