Bakary Y Badjie, Minister of Youth and Sport
By Makutu Manneh
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Bakary Y. Badjie, has clarified that The Gambia’s Independence Stadium renovation project has failed a Confederation of African Football (CAF) inspection only once, and that the failure related solely to the condition of the pitch.
According to the minister, during the inspection the stadium met all other CAF requirements, with the playing surface being the only area that did not pass.
“The stadium project failed once in terms of inspection, and this is the unfortunate thing: something people tend to misunderstand, and they have not listened to the messages from the ministry, which is the right authority,” he said.
Minister Badjie noted that public discourse is often shaped by what he described as “louder voices” who are not directly involved in the management of the stadium or the renovation process, but who, he said, sometimes amplify inaccurate information.
In 2024, media reports suggested that CAF had disapproved of the Independence Stadium as a venue for international matches for the second time. However, speaking on QTV this week, the minister emphasized that the stadium was disapproved only once.
He explained that CAF’s initial visit took place in August 2023, following an invitation extended on the advice of the Gambia Football Federation (GFF). The purpose of the visit was to inspect the renovation plans and provide guidance on whether they would meet CAF approval standards.
According to Minister Badjie, CAF initially indicated that completion of phase one of the renovation could be sufficient to secure approval, allowing The Gambia to continue hosting matches while further work was ongoing.
However, he said that during the inspection, CAF informed authorities that completion of phase one alone was not adequate.
“All of a sudden, people pick up the information to say the stadium has been disapproved, but what CAF did not approve at the time was our plan to host Gambia’s home matches while we continue the work. This is what happened in the first inspection. This is why we call it a preliminary inspection, but this is what people misunderstand and call disapproval,” he said.
The minister further noted that the Independence Stadium is a 40-year-old facility that had never undergone major renovation. “And every infrastructure needs to be renovated to keep it with the current time; unfortunately, the stadium did not have that.”
He added that he assumed office at a time when the stadium had already faced multiple bans, and that CAF later imposed a broader, permanent ban on certain stadiums across Africa, with The Gambia among the affected countries. He stressed that addressing such challenges requires more than goodwill and technical knowledge, but sustained effort and resources.
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