The Gambia was pooled against neighbours Senegal, in the draw for the 2018 Under 20 WAFU Cup tournament to be held in Liberia, late next month.
The draw which also included the likes Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Senegal, Mail and the hosts Liberia, was held at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in the Liberian Capital, Monrovia, on Monday 26th March, 2018, where the young Scorpions were drawn against Senegal, Mali and Guinea Conakry in Group B, while the hosts, Liberia were grouped against neighbouring Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, and Cape Verde in Group A.
The annual tournament, organised by the West African Football Union (WAFU), will kick-off in Liberia this time around, between March 24th, 2018 and April 6th, and The Gambia who were potted in pool 3, will face Guinea Conakry in their opening bout, whilst seeded Senegal, who were pooled alongside the host Liberia as group heads, courtesy of their high FIFA rankings, will take on Mali.
The Gambia who left both last year’s completion in Ghana and the 2015 tournament in Mbour, Senegal, in controversial circumstances, will hope they can have a better tournament to pull out of what looks like the toughest of the two groups on paper.
The Gambia were knocked out of the last tournament by the hosts Ghana, who scored from the spot after Burkina Faso’s Boukari Ouedraogo adjudged a Gambian player had handled the ball and awarded a penalty to the Ghanaians, which proved to be the decider and to the fury of the Gambian officials including the GFF President Lamin Kabba Bajo, who at the time threatened they were considering the Gambia’s position in the competition.
“We’re considering our position in WAFU because with all the resources invested in it – to go out in such manner is not fair. We will probably discuss the issue in a month’s time during our next executive committee meeting,” Mr Bajo told BBC Sport, which followed an official complain to the regional body.
In 2015 they had to pull out of the final against hosts Senegal, after refusing to play extra-time following a goalless draw. There decision they said was down to the fact that the match officials had said the match would go straight to penalties before ultimately reviewing the rules that stipulated extra-time should be played first.
