July 11 – FIFA will appoint a temporary “normalisation” committee to run Gambian football until new federation elections are held. The move comes after the current Gambian Football Federation (GFF) board “lost the confidence of several major stakeholders.”
FIFA said five people will be chosen to temporarily run the GFF and organise new elections by no later than September 15.
The small West African country has never qualified for a major international tournament and was recently suspended by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for two years for fielding five over-age players in a qualifier for Africa’s under-20 championship.
CAF found that all five players should have been ineligible to play against Liberia on April 6. Gambia won the match 1-0 before the result was annulled.
In a statement FIFA said it was “fully supportive of the CAF sanctions since malpractices such as fraud and age cheating have no place in football. In addition, it appears that the current board has lost the confidence of several major stakeholders who are playing a key role in supporting football activities in Gambia. As such, it seems any decision taken by the current board would be perceived as biased and therefore could only worsen the situation.”
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