Gambia Gets First FIBA Accredited Referees’ Instructor

The first ever Gambian Basketball referees’ Instructor accredited by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was unveiled by The Gambia Basketball Association (GBA) on Monday at a ceremony held at Olympic House.

The Gambia National Olympic Committee financed Mr. Sang Marie Sambou’s trip through The Gambia Basketball Association to undergo International Referees Instructor and Refresher Clinic in Tunisia in April this Year.

The result was released last week with Mr Sambou registering flying colors and has been appointed as national referee instructor by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, the Secretary General of Gambia Basketball Association, Mr Abdulie Jallow said the entire Basketball family is proud of Sang Marie Sambou’s performance and this will surely add values to the development of the game in the Gambia.

Explaining the process, Mr Jallow added that the FIBA Referees’ Instructor Course was held in Tunisia from the 14-16 April, 2015 and the results were sent to FIBA office for cross-examination and the final results were released on September 02^nd with Mr Sambou scoring an excellent result.

For his part the President of Gambia Basketball Association (GBA) Muhamadou Papa Njie first thanked the Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) for financing Mr Sambou’s trip to Tunisia.

He added that their objective as a National Association is to build capacity of their members.

He said refereeing is a key component in the development of the game and with Mr Sambou’s accreditation they will have the chance to multiply Basketball referees in the country.

Giving an inside of the training, the FIBA Accredited referee Mr. Sang Marie Sambou said it was a challenging endeavor but will focus and dedication he was able to make it.

He said getting the accreditation is one thing but keeping it is another challenge as that will depend on his performance at national level.

“ With the support of GBA I need to come up with referees’ training programme and conduct training for local referees and report back to FIBA and based on those programmes and reports I will be evaluated and assigned to conduct training in other parts of Africa” he said.

Dilating on the role of The Gambia National Olympic Committee, the first Vice President of GNOC and IOC member Beatrice Allen revealed that National Olympic Committees do not run Associations but they are like funding agent to help Sports Associations in their development programmes.

She said National Associations have to come up with programs including capacity building for their members to get assistance of the National Olympic Committee but priority has been given to Olympic Sports.

Gambia IOC Member once again urged the National Associations to get to the Schools to tape new and young talents for sustainability reasons.