The Gambia national basketball team are gearing up for the upcoming Zone II basketball tournament scheduled to take place in Bamako, Mali.

The Gambia will join the hosts and six other West African nations for the one-week event, which is fixed between May 15 to May 20, 2009. Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Cape Verde are other participating countries in the event, which is organised by the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa.

The winners in the Bamako competition, Observer Sports has gathered, will qualify for the African Championship to be held next September in Tripoli, Libya. The basketballers trip to the West African country will come on the heel of a similar trip made by the Gambian handballers, though the latter's trip is still the subject of investigation at the National Sports Council.

The Gambian handballers, on their return from the regional U-20 Zone II tournament, were involved in a near fatal accident when the vehicle in which the team were travelling somersaulted three times before resting on the ground with its wheels facing the sky.
The injuries sustained were serious enough to warrant at least four of the passengers and two others to be sent back to Bamako for further treatment, while the  remaining passengers were treated on the spot.

The handball players, who did not rule out foul play, blamed their president and head of delegation, Kebba Jobe, for the tragedy. They hinted that Mr Jobe, who was given an option to travel by air, opted for a journey by road and concealed the fact that the trip was sponsored by the International Handball Federation.

This forced the Department of State for Youth and Sports in collaboration with the National Sports Council to launch an investigation to ascertain and determine the true circumstances surrounding the trip and the accident. Though the investigation into the matter is still on-going, the council, relying on the preliminary reports, has already suspended the handball president, Mr Kebba Jobe, alongside his team coach ML Dumbuya, from holding executive offices or decision making positions in any sports association.