As part of its desire to see more Gambian sportsmen and women at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, The Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) is once again providing full funding for The Gambia women’s beach volleyball team for the third and final round of the continental cup, a qualification competition for Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The funding from the NOC includes air tickets, accommodation, feeding and allowances for the four players and the coach, as well as ticket and accommodation for the accompanied referee from Tunisia.
The qualifying tournament is scheduled to take place from 12 to 18 April 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria.
The twelve teams, vying for the single ticket for the Rio Games, are divided into four groups of three teams each. The Gambia is paired with Ghana and Burkina Faso in the group stages.
The Gambian delegation left the Banjul International Airport on Sunday 10th April for Abuja.
In his farewell statement to the delegation, the President of GNOC, Alhaji Momodou Dibba, called on the players to be focused while in Abuja, saying their success in the tournament is the success of the nation. “Stay together as a team, consult each other and communicate at any given time as everybody wants to see you in the Rio Games,” Dibba told the players.
For his part, the newly elected first Vice President of The Gambia Volleyball Federation, Bai Dodou Jallow, said this is the first time for The Gambia as a nation to reach this level in the Olympic qualifiers. He said thanks and appreciation should be returned to the GNOC for funding the team; from training to the competition in Abuja. “Since we started our training programmes after we returned from Abidjan, GNOC has provided transport fares for the players to and from the training ground at Palma Rima Beach. Lot of efforts have been put together to make sure the team is set to face any challenge during the competition,” Jallow said.
He urged the players to seize this great opportunity by qualifying to Rio 2016 Games as well as writing another history in Gambian sports.
The following is a list of the delegation to Abuja: Players; Sainabou Tambedou (Gamtel/Gamcel), Amie Gaye (Interior), Fatoumatta Ceesay (Interior) and Abie Kujabie (GAF), Coach; Ebrima Nyass.
Reporting by Namory Trawally, GNOC Information Assistant