After the national team’s dismal performance at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Gabon’s Sports Minister, Simplice-Desire Mamboula, announced broad sanctions. These included banning senior players Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ecuele Manga, suspending the entire squad, and dismissing the coaching staff.
The decision was made following Gabon’s thrilling 3-2 loss to the reigning champions, the Ivory Coast national football team, on Wednesday. Bazoumana Toure scored the game-winning goal in injury time. The Panthers are now at the bottom of the group, behind Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Mozambique, after Gabon’s third straight loss in Group F.
In a televised speech late on Wednesday, Mamboula stated, “The government has decided to dissolve the technical staff, suspend the national team until further notice, and remove players Bruno Ecuele Manga and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang given the Panthers’ disgraceful performance at the AFCON.”
Hours after it was shown, the announcement video was momentarily removed from official sites before being reinstated on Thursday.
The Council of Ministers had already reviewed Gabon’s AFCON campaign after the team’s 3-2 defeat to 102nd-ranked Mozambique on Sunday, confirming their failure to advance to the knockout stage. Citing a thigh ailment, Aubameyang later returned to his French team, Marseille.
President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema responded to the incident by saying that the team’s performance was detrimental to the nation’s reputation. In a formal declaration issued on Wednesday, he declared, “This has weakened part of our national identity.” He vowed “strong and structural decisions” to reinstate discipline and ambition in sports governance, adding that the national team’s difficulties demonstrated “a lack of method and the dispersion of resources.”
FIFA, which forbids governmental meddling in the administration of its member football associations, may impose sanctions on the government’s intervention.
