The Gambian leader, Dr Alhaji Yahya Jammeh, has advised the former Under 17 players who recently benefited from  land allocations to make good use of the coveted gifts since it is an opportunity that comes once in a life time.

The 22-man squad of the youth team that won the sixth edition of the CAF U-17 Championship hosted in Banjul in 2005, were on Wednesday, allocated plots of land situated at Sirlagie layout in Western Region.

The President also gave a cheque for D1,120,000 (one million, one hundred and twenty thousand dalasis), in settlement of match bonuses of the National Under 20 team which participated in the CAF Youth Championship finals hosted in Congo in February 2007 and FIFA Under 20 World Championship held in Canada later in the same year.

The payment of match bonuses and allocation of plots of land to the players, according to the Gambian leader, is a lucid testimony of his government’s commitment in providing the required incentives to boost the game of football in the country.
 
And President Jammeh wants the players, who are christened as his sons, to make use of the opportunity.

“The land that is allocated to you, I hope it will be put into good use as this is once in a life time. Therefore, if it’s not put into good use, then that’s it,” Jammeh said.

The 22 players who were allocated the plots of land are Abdoulie Njie, George Cole, Pierre Gomez, Baboucarr Suso, Mandou Bojang, Ousman Koli, Lamin Conteh, Ousman Jallow, Momodou Ceesay, Sainey Nyassi, Sanna Nyassi, Pa Modou Ngum, Tijan Jaiteh, Ebrima Sohna, Saja Leigh, Alagie Amadou Ngum, Edi Sonko Faye, Omar Mbye, Abdoulie Mansally, Pa Badjie, Ousman Sonko and Christopher Allen.

In another development, President Jammeh, over the weekend gave a substantive amount of D50,000 (fifty thousand dalasis) to the champions of the 2008 inter-schools athletics competition, Gambia Senior Secondary School.