The Daily Observer (Banjul)
6 June 2008
opinion
Banjul — Fanaticism is among the greatest threats to our civilisation. Today we see it at all levels of society - from religion to politics. And for our younger generation, football has become more than religion; to some it is life and death.
Just about last weekend, football fans in the village of Sanyany, in Kombo South, unleashed hell on members of the sports committee of that village. Their reason was that the committee members were indifferent to their feelings. Apparently, the village team had lost to a team they deemed as underdog.
The ravaging fans felt let down. A very young senior secondary school boy summed it up. "We pay whatever it cost when the team is playing, all in support of our village. But they do not seem to appreciate it."
The fracas that ensued at the end of that match resulted to injuries and resignation.
This is typical of what prevails at national level. But is football supposed to be a game of violence or fun making? This should be our topic of discussion given our increasing involvement in the international sports. It is even more important that we discuss this as the scorpions' rivals the 'Terranga' Lions of Senegal, who are set to arrive in Banjul this weekend. The past few encounters between the two teams have not been exemplary at all. And, certainly, we do not want to see a replica of those ugly scenarios.
However, the initiative by veteran footballers of the two countries could be a perfect means, among others, to stemming this trend of madness that threatens to characterise our football history. Like one of the veterans put it, "the people of the two countries have been living side by side before the advent of soccer." Besides, the blood ties is indisputable. Forget about the political difference; that is just the making of imaginary boundaries that have absolutely no bearing on the relationships between the two peoples.
It has been over four decades now since independence, but still we are confined within the spell of the educational enslavement our former white masters left us with. This is the root cause of our occasional unfriendly attitude towards one another, which is not helping us at all.
There is the need, therefore, for more interventions. The involvement of religious leaders and parents will be crucial in this. But that would be, of course, for the long-term solution. For now though, as we await the arrival of the Senegalese team, the security outfit could be instrumental in ensuring that peace prevails. Remember that Senegal and The Gambia compose of just the same people.
Re: Alleged homosexuals leave The Gambia
In our Wednesday edition, we ran a lead story captioned SPANISH GAYS CHARGED, To appear in court today. The Point newspaper on Thursday reported that the Spanish gays were "arrested and detained for nearly four days without charge, contrary to media reports that they are being charged with an attempt to commit 'unnatural offence' and were to appear in court on Wednesday".
From these two version of reports, one could deduce conflicting facts. We do not owe The Point any explanation as to how we got our facts, but we must state the facts for the sake of our wider readership.
It must be clearly stated that the Daily Observer's report was based on facts and nothing but facts. An official corroboration was obtained by the reporter from the public relations officer of the Gambia Police Force, ASP Sulayman Secka, who confirmed the story as reported by the Daily Observer. The police stated that the men were charged and were scheduled to appear in court the following morning.
But at the time we went to press, it was revealed that the charges were dropped. It was too late for us to make any amendment to the story, thus, we decided to run this development in our following edition. This time, with even the official confirmation by the deputy Spanish consular Nicola El Busto. The Point's report was deficit of these sides of the story. The Today newspaper ran a headline yesterday similar to that of the Daily Observer, although their edition was delayed due to inevitable circumstances.
So for The Point to attempt to smear the reports by sister newspapers is a flagrant manifestation of arrogance in its full effulgence and sheer amusement to us, so to speak.
In its paranoid mood, The Point tried to portray itself as the only paper that had its facts right, which is a complete fallacy.
Let us respect each other and avoid petty confrontations, if we want to be seen and respected as mature professionals in one big family.
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