The incumbent president of the Gambia Football Association, Mr Seedy Kinteh, has been handed a second four-year mandate to steer the affairs of Gambian football.

The Gambia customs officer, who enjoyed the backing of a record number of fifty-three out of the fifty-nine affiliated clubs of the Gambia Football Association, was re-elected during GFA?s Congress on Thursday at the National Technical Training Centre in Yundum. Kinteh?s second vice-president in his first term, Mr Omar Ceesay, was elevated to the position of first vice-president, while the chairman of the Western Region Sports Committee, Lamin King Colley and Adama Halla Samba; the two newcomers in the new executive were named the second and the third vice-presidents respectively. While the positions of presidency, first and second-vice presidencies all went unopposed, delegates were made to vote for the position of third vice-presidency despite two reported withdrawals before the congress.

The reported withdrawals of Sea View Football Club president Hatib Janneh and former Youth and Sports minister, Axi Gye, just a few days before the congress had meant that Adama Halla Samba, a senior Wallidan FC official, would have a smooth passage to occupy the third vice-president seat. However, this theory was not to be as Kebba Yorro Manneh, one of the most critical figures in country?s sports circle, put his hat into the ring for the same post before a vote was conducted to decide the occupant of the seat. Halla Samba, who was absent at the congress, eventually prevailed by a record margin of 39 votes, albeit Mr Manneh, a former secretary general of the Gambia Football Association, publicly discredited the electoral process, saying Samba?s election in absentia was illegal.

Manneh backed his claim with a section in the 2001 GFA constitution, which stated: "All members of the Executive Committee shall be elected amongst the delegates" ? meaning nobody shall be elected in absentia. Despite Kebba?s public outburst however, a motion was moved to confirm Halla Samba?s election as the GFA number four. In his acceptance address to the delegates, the president-elect Seedy Kinteh thanked the club representatives for the trust and confidence they bestowed on him in re-electing him to usher Gambian football to another height.

Describing his new mandate as a great challenge, Kinteh said with the support and cooperation of all stakeholders, he and his team will live up to expectations. The son of former Jarra West chief also extended his profound gratitude to the president of the Republic, Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, for the unflinching financial and moral supports extended to his Executive Committee by the sports-loving Gambian leader during his first term of office.

Plans for 2010 and beyond
Unveiling his strategy plans for the 2010 and beyond, Kinteh said his new team will ensure the successful participations of all youth teams [U-17, U-20 and U-23] in all regional and international competitions in 2012.

He added that they would also ensure the participation of the female National team in all regional and continental tournaments including the 2012 African Female Nations Cup. The provision of more local and overseas training for coaches, referees, administrators and sports medicine personnel, according to the GFA president-elect, will also take centre stage in 2010. ?The Gambia Football Association will endeavor to provide more local and overseas training courses for the referees, coaches, administrators and sports medicine personnel in 2010. We will arrange attachments for personnel from the four major components of football abroad,? he said.

He added: ?The GFA under my leadership will identify and recommend to the government of the Gambia the appointment of foreign coaches for the U-17 and the U-20 national teams.? ?I would also like to use this occasion to appeal to the government of the Gambia through the minister of Youth and Sports for the construction of at least three modern stadiums to help improve the standard of our game and to enable us to host future CAF and FIFA tournaments.? Kinteh also spoke of the plans to rehabilitate the National Technical Centre in Yundum to make it fully operational where it can provide training and accommodation facilities to all categories of our national teams, thereby putting to rest GFA?s patronage of hotels.