Gambia football authorities have confirmed that The Gambia will participate in the forthcoming West African Football Union (WAFU) Under 20 men’s football competition, Observer Sports can reveal.

The competition will take place between November 30 and December 14, 2008 in Abuja, Nigeria.

The president of The Gambia Football Association, Seedy Kinteh, has told Observer Sports that The Gambia have registered for Abuja championship, which is meant to revive the football union that has been dormant for over a decade.

With the present Gambia Under 20 team engaged in the qualifiers for the 2009 African Youth Championship finals in Rwanda, Kinteh said, different players may be selected to represent the country in the two-week tournament.

A Nigerian local newspaper, The Punch, reported that at least 12 countries have confirmed their participation for the championship.

The Punch quoted the head of the Local Organizing Committee Media Committee, Ade Ojeikere, as saying that the countries expected to join host Nigeria are Togo, Benin, Mali, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, Guinea, Gambia and Niger, while  others are Senegal, Ghana, Liberia and Cote d’ Iviore.

Ade Ojeikere said they had a very fruitful deliberation and all the committees were united in their conviction that the forthcoming event must be organised professionally and according to global best practices.