The Gambia Football Federation (GFF), veteran sport journalists and footballers all paid glowing tributes to the late Dr Sidi Cherno Jammeh, the first known Gambian football commentator who died on Monday, aged over 80.
The GFF, in its tribute, said Jammeh was a pioneering giant in Gambian sports broadcasting. “As a charismatic veteran football commentator on Radio Gambia in the 1960s, Jammeh laid the foundation for modern sports journalism in The Gambia with his vibrant voice and insightful delivery. He served as a crucial mentor to generations of broadcasting icons, nurturing the legendary Saul Alieu Badara Njie and inspiring revered figures such as Bora Mboge, Malick Jones, Peter Gomez, and Tijan Massaneh Ceesay.
Former Gambian international player and coach Mass Axi Gai, once said: “It was Sidi Jammeh who recommended and said on air that I should be selected for the national team”.
Veteran Sports journalist Tijan Masanneh Ceesay commented: “Sidi Jammeh was the man I copied as a young boy. To me, and to generations of Gambians, he was the father of football commentary in The Gambia.
When the Union Jack was lowered for the last time, Sidi was on the microphone commentating on that historic day. He was, without question, one of the finest broadcasters in Gambian history”.
Beyond sports commentary, Dr Jammeh went on to become a brilliant academic and an international public servant of high repute. With a PhD in Development Economics and International Relations, he built a transformative career at the World Bank, becoming one of its most respected African economists.