In 2018, Gambia’s football faced a major setback when seven players selected for the WAFU U17 tournament failed MRI tests, disqualifying them from participation. This incident, which brought concerns over player eligibility into sharp focus, severely disadvantaged the country and marked the last time Gambia participated in an international competition at this level. Meanwhile, neighboring countries like Senegal have not only dominated youth tournaments—such as the U17, U20, CHAN, and AFCON—but have also built sustainable models that continuously feed talent to their national teams through structured football academies. It’s high time Gambia learns from these models and makes the right investments in youth football.
The Power of Football Academies
Senegal’s success is no coincidence. Top academies like Génération Foot (GF), Diambars, and Darou Salam have consistently produced players who excel both at the club and international levels. Many of these players have seamlessly transitioned from U17 and U20 setups to senior teams, contributing significantly to the overall football ecosystem. In the summer of 2023 alone, Génération Foot saw 14 of its players recruited by European clubs. This not only strengthens the financial backbone of the academies but also provides a continuous pool of talent for the national team.
Mali offers a similarly compelling example. Their youth systems have produced world-class players like Sékou Kone (recruited by Manchester United), Ibrahim Diarra (courted by FC Barcelona), Moussa Diop (RB Salzburg), and Mahmoud Barry (Villarreal). These talents were scouted from football academies such as Yeleen Olympique, JMG Academy, and Étoilés de Mandes, with a strategic focus on nurturing talent from an early age. These players represented Mali in U17 competitions, setting the stage for their success at both CAF U17 and FIFA U17 World Cups. Such achievements are the result of a well-structured grassroots football policy.
Countries like Guinea are also seeing success, with private-sector investment playing a key role. KPC Académie in Guinea has built state-of-the-art football centers and even facilitated European tours for their youth teams, further bolstering their football development.
Gambia’s Missed Opportunities
The Gambia’s recent participation in the U20 African Cup of Nations and the FIFA U20 World Cup offered a glimmer of hope, with the country reaching the finals in Egypt. However, the question remains: how many of these players have successfully transitioned to top European leagues? While Adama Bojang secured a move to French Ligue 1, he has struggled for game time and was eventually loaned out to Zurich. Promising players like Mamin Sanyang, once at Bayern Munich’s youth team, now play in lower-tier leagues, such as the Polish second division, following a year of stagnation.
This trend reveals a worrying gap in Gambia’s football structure. The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) continues to scout U17 and U20 players from the First and Second Division leagues. This approach is problematic, as players in these leagues typically spend three to four years before becoming regulars, making them too old for youth competitions. Furthermore, the lack of a robust player development database hampers efforts to identify and nurture young talent. In more advanced football systems, players as young as U10 are tracked through player passports, ensuring their progress is consistently monitored.
The Role of School and Youth Football
The foundation of any successful footballing nation lies in its school and youth football systems. Senegal and Mali regularly send their youth teams to international tournaments, gaining invaluable experience. For instance, Génération Foot’s U16 team won the Rabat International Tournament, defeating clubs like Real Madrid. This was where Amara Diouf, one of Africa’s most promising young talents, first garnered international attention.
By contrast, Gambia’s efforts in school football remain inadequate. The Ministry of Education’s annual allocation of 400,000 dalasi for school football leagues is insufficient, and in some years, the funds are not even available. Without serious commitment to school football, the Gambia risks stifling its naturally talented young footballers. A stronger partnership between the GFF and school football leagues is essential. Investing in schools not only provides a wider talent pool but also fosters professionalism from an early age, crucial for long-term success.
The Importance of Proper Scouting and Infrastructure
Another key issue is the GFF’s flawed approach to talent scouting. The current system, which favors academies owned by GFF officials and their associates, excludes many talented players from independent academies. A more transparent and inclusive scouting process is necessary to ensure that the best players, regardless of their affiliations, are identified and nurtured.
Many of Gambia’s top football clubs, such as Real De Banjul, Brikama United, and Wallidan, do not even have functioning academies. These clubs typically recruit players from informal street leagues, or Nawettans, which lack the structured coaching needed to produce technically proficient players. As a result, many Gambian players struggle to adapt to the demands of European football when they eventually move to top clubs.
The Way Forward
To advance Gambian football, the country must address these challenges head-on. Youth football requires serious investment from both the government and the private sector. The Ministry of Youth and Sports, along with the Ministry of Education, must prioritize football as part of the national development strategy, beginning with schools. A structured league system at the school level, supported by adequate funding and infrastructure, is essential for developing young talent.
Football academies must also play a central role in this process. The GFF should establish a national database to track young players from an early age, ensuring their development is carefully monitored. Partnerships with international academies should be forged, and Gambian youth teams must be sent to compete in more advanced footballing nations. Exposing young players to high-level competition early on will create a generation of footballers ready to excel on the global stage.
The upcoming U17 WAFU Championship presents a golden opportunity for the Gambia to reset its approach to youth football. By investing in school football, supporting local academies, Local Youth Leagues, and implementing a transparent and consistent scouting system, the country can build a sustainable talent pipeline that will benefit both the national teams and the broader football ecosystem. Only through a comprehensive overhaul of youth development strategies can the Gambia realize its potential and emerge as a serious contender in African football.
The Gambia MRI 2.0: A Critical Look at Our Youth Football System
Most of us who write about the affairs of our football do so out of good faith. We all want The Gambia to succeed, and that’s why, as journalists, it is our duty to hold those responsible for steering the affairs of our football accountable.
One would have imagined that, after The Gambia was banned for many years for failing the MRI test on age cheating, our football authorities would have gone back to the drawing board to fix things. However, years have passed without any significant activity regarding the U17 team in the country. Occasionally, we saw news about U15 tournaments and school tournaments, but there has been little concrete action.
At one point, there was even a press release from the Ministry of Education, criticizing the football authorities for organizing activities in schools without their knowledge. There have also been outcries about the lack of support from the federation to help develop school football.
Recently, we saw a photo of GFF officials at the Ministry of Education, signing an MOU. However, as the saying goes, “You cannot fatten your cow on market day.”
Less than a month ago, there were daily updates about regional trials for the National U17 team. Each region’s finalists participated in scouting events at the Goal Project under the watch of Coach Lamin Sanneh. It was rumored that Sanneh had been appointed as the U17 assistant coach to Yaya Manneh, who was in Liberia serving as assistant coach to Abdoulie Bojang during the WAFU competition.
A final list of players was selected by Coach Sanneh, and we saw on the GFF page last week that Yaya Manneh had been appointed as head coach upon his return from the WAFU U20, where The Gambia failed to qualify for the next AFCON U20.
We received information that 35 players were selected for the MRI test in Senegal, where the event will take place from October 20 to November 3, 2024. After this visit, there was no official update about the MRI results.
According to sources, only seven players passed, while 16 players failed 100%, and another 15 were placed on a waiting list. Covertly, the GFF then sent another team to Dakar for the MRI test, this time composed mostly of U15 players.
This situation raises many questions. Why wasn’t the MRI process started months earlier, knowing the competition calendar? In fact, the president of the Gambia Football Federation also serves as the president of WAFU. Now, a team that has been training for a month has been dissolved and blended with players from the U15 team who passed the MRI, leaving them with less than a week to train for an international competition. Unless a miracle happens, it seems we are attending this WAFU tournament just for the sake of participation, and our chances of qualifying are slim.
I hope that Coach Yaya Manneh, who has been a developmental coach throughout his career, can take the bull by the horns and work to restructure our youth football for the long term.
Quick fixes are not the solution to developing our football. Without a functional youth system, our football will never progress. We have already seen how our senior national team is struggling to win games recently. Despite having individual stars, the team lacks the coordination and structure necessary to produce results, which puts our hopes of qualifying for the next AFCON on a thin rope.
Football is serious business and should be treated with the investment it deserves. If not, we will continue to waste taxpayers’ money on endless participation without yielding results.
To the Gambia, ever true!
