The Gambia is among seven African nations could make United Kingdom city of Yorkshire as their base to prepare for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Preliminary discussions have taken place between key officials in the Gambian National Olympics Committee (GNOC) and a York and North Yorkshire partnership body for the city to be used as a pre-games camp for ZANOCA (Zonal Association of National Olympic Committee of Africa) Zone II teams. That would mean athletes from Gambia, Senegal, Burkino Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea and Niger using the city and its training facilities as they strive for medals. Although the Olympic dream is yet to be finalised, key partnerships have already been formed between Gambia and the York parties, which include Active York, the Moors and Coast tourism partnership and York St John University.

Some 40 coaches and sports scientists from York St John are preparing to visit Gambia in March to run a coaching and training conference for the country?s Olympic Committee to help their preparations for the 2012 games. The possibility of these seven nations coming to York is the culmination of more than three years of work by Ian Ashton, vice chair of the Yorkshire Moors and Coast tourism partnership. He has had meetings with George Gomez, executive director of GNOC, and envisions the 2012 Olympic ambitions as merely part of a much wider project to establish sporting, business and culture links.

"We are looking at taking a football team out there and are also looking at setting up a tournament," he said. "Football is the game in Africa and there is the possibility of setting up a football academy in Gambia. "What we are doing is building up these relationships. We are going there and are putting our money where our mouths are. We are looking to help them with facilities and equipment. "We will be doing everything we can to bring them over (for the 2012 Olympics). We are hoping to sell not just the training facilities, but York itself. It?s a wonderful city. It?s only two hours from London and hopefully we can build up our relationship with ZANOCA and put all the pieces together."

York has four centres which have been rubber-stamped as viable for 2012 training by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG). These are Huntington Stadium for track and field, York Community Gymnastics Foundation, University of York for archery and, for basketball, volleyball and fencing, York College. Emma Hoddinott, culture and 2012 project manager for York and North Yorkshire, is leading the partnership. She said the conference in Gambia, which will take place from March 13 to 20, was a crucial development.

"The York St John staff will be devising the programme. They will be providing theory sessions and then heading out to the stadium for practical sessions," she said. "They will be passing on what they know and how they do it here. We want to develop a positive relationship. We have some fantastic facilities in York that are in the official guide. They are Olympic standard and we would love them to be used by a country or a set of countries. "It would be fantastic (if they are used in a pre-Games camp) but I think it goes beyond that. There is a whole decade of sport coming up.

There are the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and the World Cup in 2018. "For us that (Olympics) is just a small part of it. It?s an aspiration. We want to build a longer term relationship with Gambia and West African countries. We want to develop it around educational links as well."