By Duncan Mackay

Gambia is facing IOC suspension because of Government interference ©GNOCGambia are once again facing the threat of being suspended by the international Olympic Committee (IOC) after the Government failed to keep its promise not to interfere in the running of the country's National Olympic Committee (NOC).


The Gambian Government have been summoned to a meeting in Lausanne on September 24 to explain why staff from the Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) have been denied access to its headquarters in Bakau.

Olympic House, headquarters of the GNOC, had supposedly been reopened last month at the conclusion of a long-running dispute with the Government.

It came following a letter from IOC President Thomas Bach to The Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh, calling for the situation to be resolved and warning that the GNOC faced suspension if it was not. 

Gambia, seen here at the Opening Ceremony of London 2012, are facing suspension from the International Olympic Committee because of Government interference ©Getty ImagesGambia, seen here at the Opening Ceremony of London 2012, are facing suspension from the International Olympic Committee because of Government interference ©Getty Images

But, now, it has been claimed that the Government are controlling who is allowed into the building, with those associated with the GNOC barred from entering. 

"We are in daily contact with the NOC of the Gambia and the Government but, unfortunately, it is true that the NOC office has been only partially re-opened which practically speaking means that the Gambia NOC office is not operational," an IOC spokesman told insidethegames.

"This, of course, is not acceptable for the IOC and we have repeatedly insisted that the office should be immediately and unconditionally reopened.

"We have scheduled a meeting on 24 September in Lausanne with the Government of the Gambia and the NOC to try to resolve the situation.

"We will have more information to share following this meeting."

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