In the Agreement with Saller

The Gambia Football Association (GFA) has finally ended all speculations surrounding the termination of the agreement between them and the German Sportswear Manufacturer, Saller.

Speaking in a Press Conference last night at the conference room of the Independence Stadium, the Chief of Defense Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces, Brigadier General Lang Tombong Tamba said that the termination is due to the inclusion of a termination clause by the GFA, which meant to protect both parties.

Brigadier Tamba, who double as the first Vice-president and Chairman of the Marketing Committee of the GFA, said that after receiving an offer from Saller through Malick Camara last year, Saller prepared a draft contract in German which was translated in to English and reviewed by the FA and later sent back to Saller.

He said when the GFA Marketing Committee sad over the draft document, they realised that a termination clause was not included in the agreement, which was initially meant to last for ten years with an exclusive right to Saller. 

CDS Tamba added that in the interest of Gambian football they agreed to reduce the contract to four years and made the amendments on the agreement, which was signed by Seedy Kinteh, GFA President, and himself as witness.

He pointed out that the termination clause stated that either party could terminate the agreement by giving a three -month notice.

‘At the time of signing the contract, there was an upcoming crucial match for the Gambia and we needed materials for the team and at the time Saller was also pressuring us to sign the agreement inorder to receive the materials for the game,” he positioned.

Brigadier General Tamba said that the GFA signed the agreement and sent it to Saller with the hope that Saller will also do the same thing but to their surprise they received a letter from Malick Camara informing them that Saller said that the Termination clause should be deleted from the agreement or else they will not honour the agreement.

He said “In July 2007 Saller sent a letter notifying the termination of the agreement and as a result the FA convened a meeting to discuss the issue and instructed the Secretary general of GFA to write to Saller accepting the termination of the agreement.”

“The FA is very grateful to Saller and the termination of the agreement came as a surprise as we have honoured all the agreements on the document and at the time of formulating the agreement there was no problem”, he noted.

He said GFA has not point to negotiate with Saller as Malick should have created the environment whereby the FA will deal directly with Saller and not to act as a mediator.

“We collected materials from Saller and at any competition we attended, Gambia is the only team that wears Saller’s product and I think we have given them all the publicity they needed despite the fact that it is not our wish to terminate the agreement”, he stated

The Press conference was attended by GFA second Vice President, Alhagie Mass Axi Gai, and GFA staff and was chaired by Jammeh EK Bojang.