The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) in partnership with the Eleven Sports TV channel will, from this season, start showing all the GFF First Division League matches for both male and female, through the support of the world’s football governing body, FIFA.
The unveiling of the agreement between Gambia Football Federation, Eleven Sports and FIFA was held at the Football House in Kanifing on May 12th.
Eleven Sports is a multinational sports and entertainment media group headquartered in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Andrea Radrizzani's Sports and Media Investment Platform Aser Ventures.
This development came after the World’s football governing body last month launched the FIFA+ project, which is geared towards creating the digital to connect football fans across the globe more deeply with the game they love for free.
“Having an official broadcast partner that can in turn generate revenue for the league and clubs until today had remained our utmost priority. That is now a thing of the past,” said GFF President Lamin Kaba Bajo.
He affirmed that with the signing of this broadcast deal coverage will begin with the current season until the end of the 2026 season.
He further informed that they have contracted Eye Africa TV to provide the feeds for them to serve as the local partner with Elven Sports, for the start of this project. “The broadcast will still begin with some selected matches of this campaign, and will be offered through Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service otherwise known as live streaming,” Bajo added. He clarified that Clubs and online platforms that are currently streaming the league will be allowed to broadcast them until the end of the current season.
For his part, Baboucarr Camara, Communication Director at GFF, who doubled as the project manager, described the project is groundbreaking, and an evidence of the remarkable strides of football development in The Gambia. “Sports is a multi-million dollar industry from which the actors are meant to benefit in many ways and key among them is broadcasting, which is where the revenue is.”
According to him, to have an official partner to broadcast the country’s domestic 1st Division leagues at no expense to the clubs is a welcoming development, noting that it’s going to contribute immensely towards the development of those clubs.
Gambia’s CHAN Team Prepares – Ahead of Senegal Friendly
The Gambia’s local based national team are preparing for the next CHAN Cup of Nations with the screening of a provisional 25-man playing squad.
While proper training is scheduled for May 23rd, in preparation for an international friendly match against Senegalese counterparts on June 10 in Senegal, head coach Alagie Sarr has been subjecting his provisional team to preliminary trainings at the home of Gambian football, the National Technical Training Centre (NTTC) in Old Yundum, since last week. Next phase of this preparatory training resumes this week, 16th to 18th.
The qualifiers for the next CHAN Cup of Nations begin in September.
As part of the preparations, the Technical Director of The Gambia Football Federation (GFF), Sang John Ndong recently chaired an introductory and planning meeting with the technical staff of the team at his office at the NTTC in Yundum.
The 25-man squad currently training at the National Technical Training Centre in Old OldYundum is made up of the following players:
- Lamin Saidykhan Fortune FC
- Samboujang Touray Fortune FC
- Musa Jatta Wallidan
- Ebrima Sanyang Fortune FC
- Bubacarr Sillah Brikama United
- Habibou Mendy Brikama United
- Bun Sanneh Brikama United
- Ebou Kanteh Brikama United
- Saihou Mansally Real de Banjul
- David Sambou Real de Banjul
- Gregory Sambou Real de Banjul
- Mustapha Jarju Hawks FC
- Ebrima Camara Waa Banjul
- Modou Salieu Jallow Waa Banjul
- Mansour Mbye Banjul United
- Baba Ceesay Banjul United
- Modou Ndow Wallidan FC
- Abdoulie Manneh Wallidan
- Adama Jarju Wallidan FC
- Sainey Sanyang Hawks FC
- Omar Sarr Hawks FC
- Adama Jammeh Falcons FC
- Adama Bojang Steve Biko
- Harona Basis Njie Gunjur United
- Peter Sambou Gambia Ports Authority