Home : Sport : Gambia : Gambia's Nations Cup tie in doubt
Gambia : Gambia's Nations Cup tie in doubt
The president of the Gambian FA (GFA) has said his nation will not accept mercenary footballers following demands made by the country's internationals.
However, GFA boss Seedy Kinteh is still waiting to officially receive complaints made by Gambia's national players.
The Scorpions have said they will not take to the field for next month's Nations Cup qualifier at home to Guinea until their demands are met.
"We will reserve our comments until we formally get the complaints," Kinteh told BBC Sport.
Earlier this week, a letter signed by 19 players was sent to the GFA and copied to the Department of State for Youth and Sports.
Prominent among the eleven points listed were a demand for 7,471 Euros (US$9,787) that the players believe they are still owed and clarification over the role of coach Antoine Hey.
The German, who nearly quit in November after complaining about a lack of payment since taking up the job in September, has yet to sign a contract with the Department of Youth And Sports.
"We believe that the senior team should be the model every youngster should crave to play for," the letter stated.
"But for this to happen, we must put in place the needs of the team."
Players are now refusing to purchase air tickets to travel from their varying bases to destinations for matches.
In addition, they want allowances to be paid on time, international invitations to be sent out three weeks before matches and the arrangement of decent friendlies.
"A measure of our success lies in the test games we play in preparation for the qualifying matches proper and failing to organise test matches may mean the coach will never know his first team," the letter continued.
The Gambian public has reacted angrily to the players' demands, with many condemning the Scorpions for asking for too much when they have achieved so little.
At senior level, The Gambia, who currently lie second in Group 8, have never qualified for a Nations Cup finals.
975 times read
|
|
|
Rate this Gambia Article
    (total 5 votes)
|