Reports from the Gambia has described His Excellency Sheikh Professor AlhajiDr.YahyaJammeh, President of the Republic, as the biggest supporter of Gambian wrestling by sport’s promoter, Mr.AbdoulieBojang.
Mr.Bojang,also popularly called Ablo, was quoted as stating this after the recent wrestling competition organized by the Gambian president at his native village of Kanilai, in the FoniKansala district of the West Coast Region.
The wrestling competition that was attended by several government dignitaries brought together competitors from both The Gambia and Senegal.
According to sources, the proprietor of AbloPromotions, who also doubles as the desk officer for wrestling at the Gambian National Sports Council, thanked President Jammeh for his continuous support to the development of the sport in the past twenty years.
“Definitely we all know the president loves wrestling and there was this harvesting in Kanilai where he called people and he said he would like to incorporate wrestling into it,” Ablo said, while revealing that though the number of wrestlers was uncountable due to its large size, there were 38 different groups and individuals from the southern Senegalese region of Cassamance alone.
He described President Jammeh as a leader who promotes grassroot culture and traditional wrestling known as ‘mbapat’. He added that the Gambian leader encouraged wrestling and advised the amateur wrestlers to engage in pure traditional wrestling and also practising the sport without a referee. “He was emphasising the need to coordinate wrestling to the traditional ways. While not dismissingthe ‘boxing’ [form of] wrestling, he let the promoters promote our own traditional wrestling, which I think many promoters are ready to do now.”
Observing that whenever there is a national event in the country President Jammeh will incorporate wrestling as part of the events, the former vice president of the Gambia Wrestling Association revealed that the Gambian leader has given out D400,000 (four hundred thousand dalasi) to the wresters that participated in the Kanilai event, as an appreciation for their response to the call. AbdoulieBojang concluded by hailing Professor Jammeh for equally availing other sporting disciplines in the country the same opportunity, all in the name of attaining excellence in sports
