by Arfang MS Camara
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) in collaboration with The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) on Monday commenced a two-day CAF Club Licensing System seminar for first division clubs in The Gambia.
The seminar is aimed at equipping clubs with the requisite knowledge in the areas of administration and, financial structures. GFF Club Licensing Manager Victoria Roberts will conduct the seminar together with a group of 3 CAF Club Licensing Instructors in the persons of Paul Bassey (Nigeria) on administrative, legal and financial criteria instructions; Dominic Oneya (Nigeria) on infrastructure criteria instructions and Francis Akenteng (Ghana) on sporting criteria instructions.
Speaking at the opening of the programme on Monday, Lamin Kaba Bajo the GFF President said club licensing is becoming a major requirement for member clubs of the continent and as a result CAF is running out of patience.
“In a very short period it would be mandatory for all clubs who wants to participate in CAF championships to fully comply with the regulations, thus, the urgency is demanding,” Bajo said, adding that the Federation has given utmost importance and priority to training and capacity building in all aspects towards the development of the game.
Bajo noted that without good knowledge and capacity building, the Federation will not be able to achieve the objective that they have assigned themselves or to fully implement the strategic development plans they tasked themselves during their course of tenure in office.
He went on to challenge all the club representatives to make best use of this opportunity and later utilise at their clubs. He finally thanked the Confederation of African Football for accepting their request to conduct the seminar in The Gambia.
For his part, Marcel Mendy, the Executive Director of the National Sports Council said the seminar will expose participants to all the nitty-gritty of administration, licensing, management amongst others. Describing the seminar as critical, Mendy urged participants to make the seminar a very interesting and educative session. He also urged them to ask questions on related topics to know more about it and how to utilise at their respective clubs.
Dominic Oneya, a member of the CAF Inter-clubs Organising Committee said the seminar will avail the clubs the opportunity to improve their football administration and financial structures.