The Gambia Football Federation has announced the visit of CAF’s Technical Director to The Gambia, Ghanaian Mr Francis Oti Akenteng, who is also the Technical Director for Ghana Football Association.
The Federation made the announcement on it’s official website www.gff.gm, where they’ve revealed Mr Akenteng arrived in Banjul on Monday 15th February in courtesy to their request from the African Football Governing Body (CAF), as part of their plans to restructure the technical side of the country’s stuttering football.
This is not the first time Mr Akenteng visited the Gambia on a similar programme. Back in January 2014 the Ghanaian official spent two weeks in Banjul as part of the CAF Technical Committee sent to The Gambia to re-structure it’s football. Infact after that trip he claimed the GFF had offered to appoint him as Technical Director but he couldn’t take the job.
When asked about the job offer, Akenteng told GHANA Soccernet. “Yes I was there as a CAF member and saw it necessary that I go there to help them structure their game which is nothing new to me.
“I spent about two weeks there after which they approached me to spend more time but my tight schedule could not allow me.
“ There were talks to try tie me down but I couldn’t take it and for me that’s as far as it goes.
This time around the Ghanaian who is also a CAF Technical Instructor and member of the CAF Technical and Development Committee will be one of the CAF Instructors to conduct a CAF/GFF Club Licensing System workshop in The Gambia, which is slated for the 22nd and 23rd February, 2016
Mr Akenteng is regarded highly at both CAF and in his native Ghana, where he is considered as one of the country’s most decorated Coaches, having coached at all levels in the national team from the Youth level to the senior level in both the male and female categories and he has also coached in most of the top clubs in Ghana including former African Champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko, King Faisal and Accra Hearts of Oak.
His passion for Youth development and teaching the basics of football at youth level sets him apart and with Gambia Football Federation intensifying plans for grassroot football development, they could benefit immensely from the expertise of Francis Oti Akenteng.
The GFF said his mission is to conduct a technical review and study of the Federation’s Technical Department with a view to advise them on ways to restructure and strengthen the department. He will also help to draw up a technical development program for the Federation in order to improve and enhance her technical capacity.
Last year, under his guidance and help, the General Secretary of The Gambia Football Federation Mr Abass Bah paid a study visit to Ghana, to study the operations of the Ghanaian Football Association (GFA) as part of the GFF’s objectives to develop their human resource and other areas of the game.
At the time of the two week visit in Ghana Mr Bah reiterated the GFF’s gratitude for the role Oti Akenteng played in helping Gambia to restructure its technical department. He went on to say his study visit was to offer him the opportunity to study the GFA’s administrative systems and to understand how it operates in terms of managing football.
“I am here to learn the best practices that the GFA is doing in their football development. In Gambia, we see Ghana as the success story when it comes to football,” he said after meeting with GFA General Secretary, Emmanuel Gyimah.
The GFF chief secretary spent time studying in the competitions and technical department of the Ghanaian Association. He also studied the various FIFA Goal Projects with the aim to emulate Ghana’s example in managing those projects for the development of football in the country.
On The Right Track:
It has to be said, despite the laggardness to get The Gambia’s football on a steady platform, things seem to be moving in the right direction since the appointment of the incumbent administration. They have been quite tactile in the disposition of their administrative duties particularly off the pitch. It seems they have a clearer plan than the previous administrations as to how and where they want to steer the country’s disjointed football.
Opting to kick off their “rebuilding and rebranding” process by investing in youth development is a step in the right direction, it’s feasible and if implemented to the book it should yield great dividends.
They are also on the right track by reaching out to those who have the right expertise and linking up with neighbouring federations to study and understand some their operational structures in view to model their own plans.
