Football stakeholders in The Gambia have elected Kemo Ceesay as the new president of the Gambia Football Federation (GFF), following a decisive victory at the elective congress held on Saturday.
Ceesay, a former finance director of the federation who recently retired, secured 41 votes from the 77 delegates, comfortably surpassing the threshold needed to avoid a second round.
His tally was five votes more than the combined votes of his two opponents, Musa Jammeh, who received 24, and Sadibou Kamaso, who received 12.
The election marks a significant shift in the leadership of Gambian football.
Jammeh, who was backed by Bajo, had been expected to mount a strong challenge.
Many stakeholders viewed Jammeh as a proxy for the outgoing regime, and his 24 votes came as a surprise given the hype surrounding incumbency backing.
Football politics, like conventional national politics, is full of intrigues, but the similarities end there.
In national elections, every eligible citizen can vote, but in football, only the 77 delegates representing clubs, regional football associations, and allied associations have a say.
This unique electoral college system means that candidates must appeal directly to the stakeholders who run the game at the grassroots level.
The three campaigns generated heated debate and sometimes controversial talking points.
Kamaso, who commanded popular appeal among the general public with a vision widely seen as the solution for modern football administration, failed to translate that support into votes among the actual stakeholders.
He was always regarded as the minnow among the three in terms of stakeholder support, but he manifested enough courage and won great admiration in his attempt to “restore confidence” in Gambian football.
Jammeh’s FalconZ campaign was not only late but also relied heavily on the strength and connections of the outgoing president and his team.
Despite his strong football credentials as a former national team player and team owner, his campaign to continue the success of the Bajo regime failed to attract many stakeholders.
If Jammeh gained anything from the backing of Team Kaba, he equally inherited any sins committed by the team, and the stakeholders shifted their loyalties once it was established that Team Kaba was definitely going away.
For Ceesay, who called himself “The Coach,” his victory was the fruit of a long-planted tree waiting to germinate.
Having been at the centre of so many previous GFF electioneering processes, from both opposition and incumbent campaigns, Ceesay mastered the art and knows his way through the stakeholders from the clubs to the regions.
His careful selection of an executive team also paid off, as most members of his team are themselves stakeholders or connected to many. His ability to turn powerful stakeholders previously close to Bajo to his side proved crucial.
In most cases, the executive positions were filled by candidates from Ceesay’s list, with only one exception: the referees representative seat, which was won by Assan Cham from Jammeh’s team.
Source: The Standard Newspaper