The secretary of state for Youth and Sports, Mass Axi Gai, has said that National Sports Associations belong to the people and as such should be responsive to the wishes and aspirations of Gambian people.

He told sports associations that gone are the days when offices are occupied solely for the purpose of enriching oneself and not to purposefully contribute towards the development and promotion of their respective associations and sports.

SoS Gai made these remarks during the opening ceremony of the Gambia National Olympic Committee Ordinary Session of the General Assembly on Saturday.

He paid tribute to the National Olympic Committee for promoting The Gambia in the area of sports and its valuable contribution in the development of infrastructure and capacity building.

He said: “In the execution of its role as a facilitator, enabler and regulator, the Department of State for Youth and Sports has established a very close, cordial and harmonious rapport with the GNOC as collaborators in the promotion and development of sports in the Gambia.

We have been able to achieve positive results; among them, the sports policy and programme of action formulated in 1999 which led to the creation of the National Sports Council.”

For his part, Abou Dandeh Njie, President of the Gambia National Olympic Committee, said the National Sports Associations are the major stakeholders of the GNOC.

“We are working for you and you should be feeding us with your activities and programmes to enable us to provide you with meaningful assistance both technical and financial that will be relevant to your needs,” he said.

Njie said, at present, they provide sports associations with technical courses, administrators courses, coaching courses, financial assistance, moral support and encouragement, noting that “we don’t not seem to be progressing well as a sporting nation at the highest international level”.