The President of the Gambia Football Federation Lamin Kabba Bajo has congratulated the Young Scorpions on their spirited fight in their weekend match against Guinea.
The Gambian side missed a place in the under-20 African youth championship to be held in Zambia next year, after suffering a 2-1 defeat to their Guinean counterparts in Conakry over the weekend.
The President earlier on sent a message of felicitation to the team but however blamed Gambia’s exit on bad officiating.
Below is the full text of his statement.
It was with great disappointment and dismay that I follow the commentary of the match played in Conakry which by all indications was marred with poor refereeing.
Despite the questionable decisions of the match officials, the boys continued to play with sustained vigour and determination to reach finals of the continent’s U20 flagship tournament in Zambia, but their hopes were dash due to mediocre and substandard refereeing.
Though the result at the final whistle saw the end of the road for the baby scorpions to Zambia, I am joined by my colleagues in the Federation, the government and all Gambians to salute the outstanding performance and resilience of the boys by fighting vigorously to the end and by assuring them of our continuous and unqualified support for now and the future.
Finally I thank the GRTS management for availing the football loving masses the rare opportunity of following the match in a live commentary on the radio. Their initiative is saluted and deeply appreciated. And for the general football family, I say thank you very much for the consistent support, well wishes and prayers. I share your disappointment and shock, but the future is promising.
I am eternally grateful to the players, their families, clubs and all those associated with the footballers for their love, trust, confidence and inspiration.
For the head coach and his technical team, you have done extremely well both on and off the pitch by putting up a good selection and producing respectable results before and throughout the qualifiers. You have our fullest support now and the future.
Source: Gff.gm
