By Adama Makasuba
The National Sports Council has been given fourteen days ultimatum to authoritatively solve The Gambia Taekwondo Association’s longstanding debacle.
The ultimatum comes from The Gambia Taekwondo Masters who are in dispute with the association’s executive for violating the body’s governing constitution by clandestinely holding an electoral congress and delivery below per.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday at Daddy Jobe Senior Secondary School, Baba Sarr, President of The Gambia Taekwondo Masters said: “I called one of them, they said they are investigating but I just want to call on the National Sports Council that we need to give you a timeline because we cannot just be sitting here waiting an investigation that can never end and any investigation has an ending.”
“We gave them two weeks from the date today and we will mark it two weeks from the date today if we don’t hear from them, we will know what step we will take. We don’t want to say anything that we are going to do but we have something in mind that we are going to do. But we want to hear from them as governing authority,” he added.
“Just to tell Gambian people that the electoral congress was done out of greed and it was done out of self-interest. And we all expected that the GNOC would have allowed that kind of event to take place on their premise. They never even started anything to start something that can tell the Taekwondo Masters they want to fulfill their promises.
“So, if you run an association like The Gambia Taekwondo Association four years and you’ve proof nothing, no experience, no knowledge, why on earth do you still want to continue running that association because you clearly disqualified yourself because you don’t show any proof of knowledge and experience to run the affairs of Taekwondo. Let’s call spade a spade because you don’t show any proof and the National Sports Council Act indicates and I want to quote: stated that if any sporting discipline fails to comply with its constitution which means they failed woefully and they did it deliberately.
“This is our sport that we love, we are the practitioners, the kids are here behind us and they want to see themselves representing The Gambia tomorrow. You cannot be three individuals running the affairs of Taekwondo using money on behalf of Taekwondo. No, we cannot allow that. And I want to call the National Sports Council on this they are given powers by their Act and their Act is from the National Assembly and it’s very powerful and their Act said any sporting association failed to comply the disciplinary actions are here, they will ban or expel its officials from holding any office or duties or whatsoever, is their Act, let them act on this that’s what we are calling for,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Baba Ceesay alias Balanced, who is the secretary general of The Gambia Taekwondo Masters said: “It’s high time for us now to start something and it has to start now. This is just a press conference; maybe he didn’t tell you that there is another plan we are about to do after the press conference if they don’t respond because we want our Taekwondo back.”
“We represent Taekwondo and we want it back and we want to represent Taekwondo in the Olympics. We want The Gambia to be represented in the Olympics. All these people are only interested in per diems, we all know what per diems are. Can you imagine for four good years you are managing an association; you cannot even organize a single activity and you call yourself a leader, that’s a failed leader?” he added
