Gambia FA sacked by government

Gambia’s Football Association has been sacked by the country’s sports ministry.

The move follows Gambia’s 2-1 home loss to Algeria in the first round, first leg qualifier for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

“The FA’s dissolution came at a time when Gambia were making no headway in continental and global competition,” sports minister Alieu Jammeh said.

The move will concern FIFA, which outlaws governmental intervention in the running of a national association.

Nonetheless, Jammeh plans to install an interim committee to take charge.

“It is now time to excuse the executive and set a new interim committee that will take care of the country’s football,” added Jammeh, who only assumed his position last month.

Reports state that the entirety of the Gambian FA has been dismissed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

In their long history, Gambia – a country less than two million people – have never qualified for a Nations Cup nor World Cup tournament.

Nonetheless, the sports ministry took the action in an attempt to ensure that the West Africans do one day translate their relative success at junior level to the senior stage.

In 2007, their Under-20 team grabbed third place at the African Youth Championship in Congo.

The return leg against Algeria is in June, sandwiched between Gambia’s opening qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.