The Gambia Football Association has clarified that the country’s absence in the qualifiers for the 2011 CHAN (African Nations Championship) is due to the late decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to waive a fine incurred by the Scorpions during 2009 inaugural tournament the qualifying round and not a ban as was widely touted.

The qualifiers for the second edition of the biennial competition, which accommodates only domestic league players, will commence this weekend with Scorpions not participating. And it was touted that the Gambia’ absence in the qualifiers for the 2011 event scheduled to take place in Sudan was due to a ban they incurred during their preliminary round exit in the hands of Mauritania in the 2009 inaugural competition hosted in Ivory Coast.

But the GFA president Seedy Kinteh refuted this notion, saying CAF's decision to waive a fine imposed on Gambia for the reactions of some players during their first-round exit against Mauritania in the 2009 qualifiers came too late for the country to put together a better local team for the March qualifiers.

Kinteh added that the Scorpions coach Paul Put has, however, been mandated to put together a team of home-based players that will not only represent the country in the next CHAN tournament but also in other upcoming regional competitions including the Zone II championship and WAFU Cup tournament. "The Gambia were fined following our first-round exit against Mauritania in the 2009 qualifiers where our players reacted after they felt robbed by the referee. But after a protest letter to CAF, this decision was overturned, albeit the decision came to late for us to prepare a team for the second edition, the qualifiers of which commences this weekend," Kinteh said.

 "As I speak with you now, the Scorpions coach Paul Put has been tasked to put together a team of home-based players that will not only represent us in the next CHAN tournament but also other upcoming regional tournaments including the Zone II and the WAFU Cup championships," he concluded.