By Olimatou Coker
The Gambia has officially launched her first female amputee football team in a move aimed at promoting inclusion, empowering women and creating opportunities for female athletes to develop their talents in football.
The initiative, known as the Gambia Amputee Female Football Association (Gafa), was launched with support from the European Union, the World Amputee Football Federation and Stand-Gambia.
The historic launch took place during a three-day Women’s Amputee Football Training Camp held from 18th to 20th September, at the Fifa Goal Project in Yundum.
The training camp brought together young and promising female athletes who are passionate about football and determined to break barriers and pursue opportunities in the sport.
The initiative is designed to prepare female amputee footballers to compete at both national and international levels, while also emphasising education and life skills as important components of their development.
The organisers described the project as an important step towards women’s empowerment, with the aim of building participants’ skills and confidence and helping them realise their full potential through sport.
According to Gafa officials, there are currently three male amputee football teams in the Kanifing Municipality, West Coast Region and North Bank Region. Plans are also underway to establish additional amputee football teams in the Central River, Lower River and Upper River regions.
The association said it intends to establish female amputee football teams across all regions of the country to ensure greater representation of women alongside men in amputee football.
During the training camp, participants took part in sessions covering expectations, life skills, the laws of the game, technical football training and concentration.
The programme also included video analysis of women’s amputee football in Africa, safeguarding in women’s amputee football and conflict resolution, among other educational and development sessions.
Veronic Aisha Malack, president of the Women Amputee Football Association and project course coordinator, said the initiative marked a new chapter for women in amputee sports.
She added that the project was aimed at breaking barriers and creating new opportunities for women to participate meaningfully in football, adding that the life-skills component would help participants apply the lessons effectively both on and off the pitch.
Ebrima Bah, coordinator of the European Union Stand Project, said amputee football had for a long time been dominated by men, leaving women facing additional barriers to participation.
“The launch of the female amputee football initiative represented a significant change”.
emphasising that rehabilitation should not end in hospitals but should also extend to opportunities such as participation in sport.
Babucarr Jobe, second vice president of the Gambia Amputee Female Football Association, and Lamin Sambou, a representative of the Gambia Football Federation (GFF), also offered guidance and words of encouragement to the participants.
The launch builds on The Gambia’s existing participation in amputee football at continental level. The national amputee football team has previously participated in African Cup of Nations competitions, including the 2021 tournament in Tanzania, the 2024 competition in Egypt and the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Dakar, Senegal.
The establishment of a female amputee football programme marks a new development in efforts to expand opportunities for women with disabilities to participate in competitive sport in The Gambia.