Officials of the Secondary Schools Sports Association and various PE teachers are currently brooding over a recent government directive banning the holding of the famous inter-schools athletics championship among other activities.
Most of the stakeholders have criticised the government directive as hypocritical and nonsensical and serving no useful purpose. But in a rather conciliatory but assertive tone the president of the Gambia Athletics Association Dodou Joof (Capy), a retired Gambian international athlete and current official of the African athletics confederation said any ban on schools sport programmes would have a difficult impact on sports in general in the country.” School sports is a very important exercise and it is the only avenue to scout and tap talents for national sports programmes which is not only limited to athletics. We as the GAA are calling on the government to reconsider their decision,” Joof who is also the president of the National Olympic Committee told The Standard.
Mr Joof argued that if large public gatherings such as music concerts and political rallies are allowed to go on, it is hard to understand why school sports cannot go ahead. “And in any case some disciplines example the football league, and other local football activities are going on. So it is unjustifiable to stop one sport and allow another to operate under the same rules. Inter-house and inter-schools should be allowed to ahead even if there will be changes or safety measures,” Mr Joof advised. The GAA president’s advice followed those of some National Assembly Members who criticised the directive arguing it has no basis after gatherings were allowed to go ahead against common sense in a pandemic.