Africa-Press – Gambia. In July 2023, after inspecting renovation works at the Independence Stadium, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) issued its preliminary inspection report. It must be noted that the Independence Stadium has been under a ban since February 2022.
In its preliminary report, it identified 10 areas that are requirements that must be met before it could approve the use of the stadium. Number 1 of these requirements was entitled, ‘Pitch and Surrounding Areas’. It states that there should be a hybrid pitch in the field of play that meets FIFA standards.
Today, August 2025 is two years since that CAF report was issued and the pitch remains an issue while the stadium remains under ban and our matches go abroad. Why?
The Ministry of Sports, the National Sports Council, the Gambia Football Federation and the Stadium Management should tell Gambians the real story. It is definitely unacceptable that it has taken 2 complete years to do a stadium pitch!
What is even more scandalous is to see a press release issued by the National Sports Council talking about hiring a foreign company to “upgrade and maintain” the pitch! This presser is coming after it was reported in December 2022 that a multimillion dalasi renovation works had begun at the stadium.
Here is an excerpt of the story in the Standard newspaper published on 29 December 2022 https://standard.gm/d160m-stadium-re-modeling-project-starts/
“The project, which the minister called re-modelling, costs D160 million and is split into Lots 1 to 4. Two companies, Gigo Construction and Integral Group, a joint Turkish and Gambian company, have been contracted to do the job. The job entails a complete overhauling and installation of new electric and electronic systems, a modern hybrid football pitch, modern international changing rooms, scoreboard, Fifa and Caf standard individual pavilion-seating among other facilities.”
According to the Minister Bakary Badgie these renovation works included “a modern hybrid football pitch”.
But the NSC press release issued two days ago failed to address the information in the public space that a local company, CFTM Group was paid D91M to do the pitch in the same stadium. How could companies be contracted almost 3 years ago to install a pitch yet today another company is hired to update and maintain that same pitch?
Meanwhile, the stadium has been under ban because of poor pitch?
In 2022, the Minister of Sports Bakary Badgie said they had hired local and foreign companies to renovate the stadium. He spoke about a joint Turkish and Gambian company called Integral and GIGO Construction to that effect. Today, two years and eight months after, what have these companies done? The Minister never mentioned CFTM Group yet today we hear that company was paid D91M for installing a hybrid pitch? How?
What kind of contract did the Ministry sign with these companies in 2022? How could they install a pitch only for another company to be hired to upgrade and maintain that same pitch almost 3 years later?
The Ministry, GFF, Stadium Management and NSC should tell Gambians the full story. Where is the contract? Could the Ministry share this contract with the public for purposes of transparency and accountability? How much more money has been spent on the stadium apart from the D160M mentioned by the Minister in Dec 2022?
If truth be told, it has taken unreasonably too long a time to complete a job that is not necessarily difficult. The building, maintenance and management of a stadium pitch is not rocket science whose expertise and experience should have been developed and maintained in The Gambia since 1983 when the Independence Stadium was first opened, or since 1994 or since 2017 with the coming of new governments.
Why has this not been the case yet millions are spent on the stadium without serving its purpose? Why and how is it difficult to renovate the stadium pitch in line with FIFA standards?
This raises the question as to what have the Ministry of Sports, GFF, NSC and Stadium Management been doing since 1983 or 1994 or 2017 to date to ensure that our stadium is in perfect shape all the time?
Our people are unnecessarily losing millions in playing our matches abroad while many more millions have been spent already on stadium renovation. How long shall this continue?
The Ministry, GFF, NSC and the Stadium Management should tell Gambians the real story.
For The Gambia Our Homeland.
Madi Jobarteh
Kembujeh
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