Africa-Press – Gambia. Bakary Y. Badjie, the Minister of Youth and Sports, has shed light on the limitations of government interference in sports associations in The Gambia, explaining that his ministry does not micro-manage these associations.
His clarification comes amidst intense criticism of the government by sections of the Gambian public after a tragic incident involving the country’s U16 basketball team, who were involved in a road accident en route to Guinea.
The minister stated that sports associations are not institutions of the Ministry and are therefore not directly managed by the National Sports Council (NSC) nor the Ministry of Sports.
“They are private associations answerable to their members and stakeholders. The Ministry’s responsibility is to supervise their work by domestic law and in compliance with international regulations and practices that dictate the relationship between government and association. In doing so, we observe certain protocols and limit ourselves to roles at macro levels,” he pointed out.
According to him, governments everywhere allow associations to self-govern while the state focuses on policy, regulations, infrastructure, and, in the case of Africa and Asia, due to the absence of enough corporate financing where needed and available.
“This is how it works in The Gambia too, except for the fact that our regulatory part is weak and needs adjustment. Reason, we have developed a National Sport Bill that has now been finalized by the AG Chambers and is ready for submission to the National Assembly for tabling in its next session,” Minister Badjie added.
He maintained that every association in the country manages its participation in international competitions and makes its travel arrangements, saying, “We do not dictate the means of travel, nor is there any layer of approval for travel route or mode.”
The minister emphasized that most times, the Ministry learns of an association’s impending travel when they write to the National Sports Council (NSC) requesting funding for a particular event, where the MoYS provides full or partial funding.
“Additionally, the story being touted around about the Gambia Basketball Association (GBA) submitting a D2 million budget to use a flight, and we replied that the government does not have money. Y is false. The budget submitted to us from the NSC is D1.2 million. Upon review, the Ministry provided one (1) million dalasis to the GBA. This essentially covered the entire cost as per their plan,” he clarified.
He said his ministry and government have taken this incident as a lesson and will take immediate action to prepare enforceable regulations that will require sports associations to, among other requirements, submit annual plans to the NSC to ensure they prepare well and seek approval before registering teams in regional competitions and finalising travel plans.
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