By Tumany Colley
Football fans across the country were shocked after TMT football club was slapped with a 10-point deduction by the Gambia Football Federation’s Organising Committee over unguarded comments the club made on their Facebook page a month ago.
TMT threw a contemptuous attack against the football authorities after their 1-0 defeat to BTS Galaxy FC.
“Hustlers masquerading as football authorities in the Gambia are making it hard for individuals to invest money into the beautiful sport that we all love”, they said.
The allegations obviously did not go down well with the authorities. And a month later, the football authorities slapped them with a 10-points deduction, basically putting their chances of qualifying to Gambian top tier football in jeopardy.
The GFF wrote; “These remarks, the Committee found to be contemptuous and has caused a serious reputational damage to the GFF, which can lead to future revenue loss.
In this regard, the Committee has decided to punish TMT Football Club with a 10 points deduction in line with Article 20 of the Disciplinary Code of the GFF. The points deduction will take immediate effect. Furthermore, TMT is also requested to offer an unreservedly public apology, through the same channel of communication within seven days, failure of which will lead to an automatic punishment of a D20,000.00 fine”.
Many sport lovers, including prominent sports journalists described the Article 20 of the Disciplinary Code as “vague”.
The move did not also sit well with most football lovers, who called-out the GFF for unfairly treating TMT.
Prominent activist, Madi Jobarteh, commented; “I hereby totally condemn GFF for this draconian and arrogant action which is tantamount to abuse of power. Just because a football team criticizes GFF therefore GFF has the temerity to punish the team as if GFF is above criticism!
The alleged criticism stated here is not a misconduct or a violation for which there is need for punishment. What evidence does GFF has to show that the criticism has caused reputational damage to the Federation? Or is it that the ego of the officials of GFF is pricked and so they decide to over exercise their power because they cannot stand criticism?”
Madi advised TMT to challenge the decision, and even called on other clubs to stand with TMT.
Borri Darboe wrote; “It is better to rescind your decision as it is against the principle of fair play. You must accept divergent views and criticisms especially those that premise on football development and growth. Deducting 10 points from a team is just an act of bad administration.
Rescind that decision for good of the game and fair play”.
Renowned social media commentator, Coach-Pasamba Jow also voiced his opinion on the matter.
“I join my fellow Football enthusiasts in calling on The Gambia Football Federation to rescind its punishment of TMT. I find the 10-point deduction unacceptable and excessive.
The statement attributed to TMT, published on their team’s Facebook page, in which the FF is accused of being “hustlers masquerading as football authorities” is quite acceptable, but the crime doesn’t fit the crime. A hefty fine would have sufficed.
A ten-point deduction that will effectively deny the TMT a well-earned possible promotion to first division is at best a knee-jerk reaction that borders on vindictiveness.
There is no way that this punishment would be good for our game, and the advancement of Football, particularly Club Football”, he argued.
Many fans also wondered who the members of the organising committee are, and how transparent the process was. The timing also seems off to most fans.
Before the points deduction, TMT was on top of division two table with 63 points, just two points ahead of second place, BTS Galaxy. But with the points deduction, they drop to 6th position with only a game to spare.
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