At least 18 awards will be conferred on people who have contributed significantly to the development of sport in this country for the past one-year.

Slated for 26 December 2007 at the Jaama Hall at the Kairaba Beach Hotel, the National Sports Awards Day, the first of its kind in the Gambia, will honour the most outstanding players, teams, sport administrators and companies.

The Sports Journalists Association of the Gambia and Football Digest jointly organize the awards ceremony whose theme is “Awards to support President Jammeh’s Breakthrough”.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel last Friday, Namory Trawally, President of the Sports Journalists Association of The Gambia, said the day will be dedicated to support President Jammeh’s breakthrough.

He said: “President Jammeh is the first person to sponsor five members of the Sports Journalist Association to the U-17 Championship in Peru and the African Youth Championship in Congo Brazzaville.”
He added that “to say a big thank-you to President Jammeh, the sports journalists have dedicated the awards ceremony to him and part of the proceeds gained at the end of the day will be donated to President HIV/Aids Trust Fund”.

Ebrima Manneh, Coordinator of Football Digest, expressed his company’s commitment to the development of sports in the Gambia, which he added resulted in its collaboration with the sports Journalist Association of the Gambia in staging such an awards ceremony.
“The event is not only important to the Sport Journalists Association of the Gambia but also to all Gambians and foreign nationals as part of the proceeds gained from the day will complement President Jammeh’s efforts in finding a lasting solution to the HIV/AIDS pandemic,” he added.

Both speakers commended Mr Robinson, publisher of Football Digest, for what they described as his immense contributions to sports development in the country.

Also speaking was Dr Samuel D Wilcox, Marketing Consultant for the forthcoming event, who said various awards where held in the Gambia but come December 26, 2007 Gambians will see what they have never seen.
Mr Wilcox however, expressed his confidence that the forthcoming event will be a memorable one as all the necessary logistics are already in place.