The Gambia Football Federation, through its former team manager Maimuna Kanteh and head coach Fatou Bom Sowe, has responded to Adama Tamba’s allegation, where the clinical striker claimed the Gambia Federation and the women’s national team do not respect her.
The football house president, Lamin Kaba Bajo, wasn’t available, nor was the women’s football association president, Jainaba Cham, to address the issues regarding women’s football. The Alkamba Times further went to contact the team doctor by then to confirm the severity of the said injury; however, Dr. Isatou Cham put a pin on our questions, citing legal actions.
Bom Sowe says that she hates being accused and that Adama is lying about the whole scenario.
“I have called Adama Tamba for the Niger doubleheader, and what she complained about is that the visa and resident permit are set for renewal and coming for the February matches won’t favor her; that’s her response, but nothing like harboring a grudge or malice towards us was ever in the cards.”
“I lost my personal belongings, including my phone and laptop, and ended up not having anybody’s contact. When you ask for players contact numbers, people don’t give them out. Right now we wanted Ola Buwaro’s number, but to no avail. Adama Tamba reported to camp with a free bill of health, and if my memory serves me right, she got injured in the free-up; she played close to 80 minutes and got a knock; that’s how we withdrew her for safety precautions. Both the doctor and physio were treating her; unfortunately, we asked her if she could play in the return leg, and she said no. To my surprise, she mentioned another injury, but different from the ankle injury. What we were told and witnessed was an ankle injury. We made sure she was receiving treatment before she returned to France. She did confirm that she was fine, but making these remarks surprises me a lot. Adama has 1,010 injuries before leaving the Gambia; she has been used game in and game out. If Adama felt abandoned and said so, that’s fine, but from our end, we were in touch with her.”
Bomb emphasized that things would have been solved amicably of the player was living in the Gambia
“The dialogue would have been smooth if Adama IS living in the Gambia, but currently, she is not living here. The federation has taken the burden of helping with medicine and surgeries for all national team players that have sustained injuries. If Adama had told us that she wasn’t feeling ok, the federation would have treated her ahead of his return. She should have communicated clearly to us, either to me, the team doctor, or the team manager; we would have treated her. She only told us that she is fine, and we cannot do anything about it. I never forced a player to play under pain; that’s why in all my selections I have two players just in case one gets injured. I won’t take that risk for any player regardless of how much you cry. A national asset for that matter, tying your ankle to play, then I must be selfish. I hate being accused.”
The then team manager Maimuna Kanteh shed light on Adams injury and the match allowances row
“Sometimes players contradict themselves. I reached out to Adama, and she sent me her club’s email address after telling her that the coach wants to invite her. and then subsequent WhatsApp audio followed saying when we qualify, she will be available and wish us all the best of luck. During her last engagement with us, Adama had a knock on her ankle, and we attended to her. I never received any complaints from Adama. I remembered I went to the airport to see her off, and I asked her once again if she was ok, and she said yes. Once she reached, she told me she had arrived safely and was set to return to training; after two days, she changed her number and made it difficult to reach out to her.”
“I feel disappointed with her reaction via the Alkamba Times. I was chatting with her, but she never showed nor shared her frustration with me. It would have been better to share with us to look for a way forward.”
“The camping allowances have increased; what GFF was paying back then in 2022 is quite different in 2025. We have improved a lot in that aspect; once again, players have no right to dictate to the federation with figures for allowances and bonuses; it solely lies in the EXCO of the federation to determine,” stated Maimuna Kanteh.
“Adama has missed the last two engagements of the national team, but we have definitely raised the money, but in her back of mine, she thinks it’s at the same tariff,” Maimuna concluded.
