We Won’t Return Until MSA Agrees to the Terms of Our Community, Says Johm’s FC Fitness Trainer

By Edward Dalliah, Jr.

Four Manjai-based football teams have stayed out of the 2026 Nawettan for a second consecutive year amid an ongoing dispute over the ownership and management of Father Gough Sports Complex, commonly known as Manjai Park.

Darusalam FC, Ajax Manjai FC, Johm’s FC and Manjai Sanchaba FC have maintained their withdrawal from the tournament, while Under-15 FC, which stayed away last year, has returned.

Johm’s FC Fitness trainer Alasan Jammeh said his club will not return to the Manjai Nawettan as long as the Manjai Sports Association (MSA) remains in charge of the tournament.

Speaking to our campus reporter, Jammeh said, “As long as the MSA is managing the tournament, I don’t think we will be able to participate unless they agree with the Manjai Village Development Committee (VDC) terms. Then from there, we can participate.”

Similarly, the Public Relations Officer of the VDC, Habibou Barry, said the community would only change its position if control of the facility is returned to the community.

Asked whether the community would change its position, Barry replied: “Only if the management of the park is given back to the community of Manjai Kunda.”

Nawettan is one of The Gambia’s major grassroots football competitions, providing young players with opportunities to compete, develop their skills and attract the attention of divisional clubs. It normally runs during the rainy season, from August towards October.

The four teams’ continued boycott of the tournament is directly linked to the dispute between the Manjai Community and the MSA over who should manage the facility, a matter that is now before the Bundung High Court.

The dispute over the sporting facility can be traced to the history of the land and how sport was governed at the facility. From the early 2000s until 2015, the Manjai Youth Development Association (MYDA) managed the facility and sporting activities held there, with part of the funds generated put into community development.

However, management later changed hands when the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) handed the facility to the now-defunct Manjai Sports Committee (MSC), which had previously operated under MYDA before a fallout.

Following the dissolution of the MSC, the Manjai Sports Association emerged and now maintains that it is the recognised sporting body mandated to manage the facility and deal directly with the council.

At the heart of the ownership and management dispute is the historical ownership claim and legal custodianship. KMC officials interviewed noted that, under the Local Government Act, all community parks fall under the authority of the Council. However, they pointed out that the challenge they face is the central government’s failure to produce title deeds for community parks.

Hon. Babucarr Mansally, who chairs the Council’s Youth and Sports Standing Committee, stressed that while management responsibilities may be delegated, ownership itself cannot legally be transferred.

Although the dispute has prompted attempts by both local and central government authorities to broker a solution, none has succeeded. Hon. Mansally said the Manjai Community accused the council of “being biased” and escalated the matter to the central government.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Hon. Bakary Badjie, told our reporter on 16th September 2026 that the government had attempted to resolve the dispute through negotiations, but “negotiations, [which] didn’t work.”

He explained that the dispute is rooted in the country’s land tenure system, noting that the nature of how most football fields emerged makes it difficult to obtain title deeds. According to the Sports Minister, “People just go to an empty place and start using it to play football, and then it becomes a football field.”

He revealed that although the Manjai Park dispute was referred to the Minister of Lands because it involves “ownership of the land where the Manjai Mini Stadium is.” However, he said the intervention “couldn’t find a solution”, leading to “the Manjai community going to the court.” Therefore, he said, “we are waiting to see what the outcome of the court will be.”

On addressing similar ownership disputes in the future, Badjie said the ministry has learned from such cases and now engages communities before investing in projects, requiring them to provide “the land allocation from the Alkalo, which they have registered at the area council, in the zone or region it is.”

With the central government unable to broker a solution, the Manjai Community have now gone to court, and its teams have continued their boycott of the Nawettan.

However, the continued absence of the four teams has affected young footballers who rely on the Nawettan as a platform to compete, develop their skills and pursue their football careers.

Some young footballers who spoke to us said that although they wanted to participate, their teams’ decisions prevented them from doing so, forcing most of them to find another team in a different zone.

The Chairperson of the Kanifing Municipality Sports Committee (KM Sports), Mr. Modou Njie, told our reporter that the teams should reconsider their decision and return to the competition.

Mr. Njie explained: “The concept of grassroots football is to increase our pool of player choice; [therefore,] when we have players playing in Manjai, in Serekunda East and in these regions, we are producing stars.”

Against this backdrop, Njie directed his appeal to the elders of the Manjai Community. “We don’t own anything in this world. We will all die and leave everything here,” he said. “So basically, what we should do is come together and solve the conflict.”

With the dispute now before the Bundung High Court and efforts by the authorities to broker a settlement failing to produce a solution, the future participation of the four teams remains uncertain.

Edward Dalliah, Jr.

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