President to help Gambia

By Lamine Cham
BBC Sport, Banjul

President of The Gambia Yahya Jammeh to help football

President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia has added his voice to the football crisis in his country, by saying he will help bring in foreign coaches to help train the national teams.

Jammeh says his government trying to get the best coaches for The Gambia to try and help the Scorpions qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

"With the right attitude from the fans and everyone in football we could go further and make the country proud of its football," he said.

The President is talking about trying to get foreign coaches for the under-20 and under-17 squads as well as the national team.

Jammeh however also renewed his controversial call for no football to be played during the rainy season.

"Let's play football all the way to June, but when the rainy season comes let's concentrate on the really 'big match' - farming," Jammeh added.

Jammeh's comments come after the Football Association of Gambia decided to disband the national team, following the Scorpions' failure to reach the group stages of the 2006 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifying.

That decision came just days after the association sacked The Gambia's entire coaching staff, including manager Sang Ndong.

Instead the GFA will direct its energies towards building a new national team through youth football teams, academies and restructuring the local league.

The executive committee has also said it will restructure the under-17, under-20 and under-23 teams, although those teams will continue.