Six out of the nine clubs that make up the Gambia Taekwondo Association have written a letter to the executive secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC) Mamudou Max Jallow executive secretary of the National Sports Councilfor being “dormant since its existence”. The letter, which was also sent to Observer Sports was also copied to the Gambia Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC).

Observer Sports learnt the same complaint was made several times during the tenure of two former NSC executive secretaries, Alieu Cham and Besenty Gomez, but nothing was done to resolve the situation, and this, according to them, contributed to the deterioration of the Gambia Taekwondo Association from the list of active national sports associations in The Gambia.

They added that Master Joseph Goma (Founding Father of Taekwondo in The Gambia) has contributed immensely to the introduction of Taekwondo in The Gambia, and while according him all the due respect and commend him for his contributions towards the development of the sport in the country, national interest has to take precedence.

They claimed the Gambia Taekwondo Association has been giving fictitious information to the Sports Authorities and the media houses. “The association has been claiming to introduce various Taekwondo clubs in schools like Marina International and WAIS. This is unfounded information to mislead the National Sports Council and GNOC, to enable them meet the requirements of getting six clubs before they are recognised as a national association.”

The clubs pointed out that the NSC requires every association to have at least six clubs to be recognised else it will be considered as a committee until it meets the above requirements, which hasn’t happened under the current leadership, and new clubs that want to join the association are elbowed out “by the family-run association”.

“Mr. Jallow, We are putting it to you that the Association is only composed of four clubs namely: Elite Fitness Center in the Duplex Complex, Golden Tiger Taekwondo, Sipjin Taekwondo Club and SUBAK GOMA CLUB respectively, which belongs to Master Joseph Goma, a Spaniard residing in the country. His club is located at Senfour Brikama Highway along the Kombo Sillah Drive, Churchill’s Town, where the Association’s Head office is located,” the letter further stated.

They also claimed that the executive is a composition of non-Gambians that handle sensitive positions in the association, and have failed to call an AGM since the last congress in 2008.  They further said that the association has never organised a national championship since its inception, and in fact do not have the required number of clubs to hold such activities. They went on to accuse the executive of secretly selecting the national team athletes from their own clubs to represent the country at international tournaments.