Jammeh EK Bojang, the Secretary-General of the Gambia Football Association yesterday confirmed to Pointsport that the Gambia U-17 team will finally host their Nigerian counterparts as part of both sides’ preparatory efforts before the start of the much anticipated U-17 World Cup in Nigeria next month.
Jammeh Bojang said the friendly was made possible after receiving a telephone call from the General Secretary of the Nigerian Football Federation on Wednesday, informing him that they will arrive in Banjul on Friday.
The Nigerian team Jammeh noted were supposed to travel to the country earlier to take part in an international friendly with the African championship.
According to him, the first arrangement was put to a halt due to the team’s involvement in the ongoing MRI test which resulted in the disqualification of 15 Nigerian players who were said to little bit above 17 years.
“I was mandated by the executive committee of the GFA to make the arrangement and I finally reached an agreement with them and the Nigerian U-17 team is expected to arrive in the country today, early in the morning where they will play two friendly matches with the Darling U-17 team, slated for 5th and 7th September at the Independence Stadium in Baku and the Box Bar Stadium in Brikama, respectively,” the GFA Secretary-General was quoted as saying.
If this interview is anything to go by, Nigeria will certainly make this trip a possibility following the team’s failure to turn up on two occasions as part of the MRI test they had undergone in Ghana.
The friendly will be the U-17 first encounter since their disappointing 3-2 defeat to the Senegalese counterparts fortnight ago in Dakar.
The tickets for the friendly games are as follows D300 for VIP, D50 for the covered pavilion while the uncovered pavilion stands at D25.