By Arsenal striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his Gabonese teammates were on Sunday stranded on their way to an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against The Gambia.
The former Borussia Dortmund man shared videos and photos of the team stranded at the Banjul International Airport on his Instagram stories.
Gabon’s Panthers were billed to take on The Gambia (a match they lost 2-1) in a Group D qualifier for the competition scheduled for 2022 in Cameroon.
The Gabonese football federation also shared photos and videos of the team sleeping on the airport floor on its Facebook page but made no comment about the issue.
https://twitter.com/aubameyang7/status/1328411171087659012?s=21
In a series of tweets on its official handle, the Gambian Ministry of Youths and Sports explained that the Gabonese delegation was not allowed to leave the Airport because they “refused to surrender their Covid-19 test certificates to the public health officials; equally, they refused to be tested at the airport and put up with unfavourable behaviours.
“The public health officials on duty did not allow them to leave the airport without being tested until 05:30 am after the matter was reported to the Match Commissioner by Mr Lamin Jassey, General Secretary.”
The Ministry explained that “The public health officials were given assurance by the Gabonese sports minister and the ambassador that tests will be conducted on each member of the delegation at their Hotel. It was after this assurance the delegation was allowed to leave the airport.”
Clarification: The Behaviour of the Gabonese delegation
The @MOYSTheGambia has learnt with shocked and disbelief the attitude of the Gabonese delegation upon their arrival at the Banjul International Airport last night.
Despite 20:00hrs was communication to the officials in… pic.twitter.com/UCbHZExO6U
— Ministry of Youth and Sports The Gambia (@MOYSTheGambia) November 16, 2020
I know my team
They Ready like Never before
And me they did a misTake Letting me sleep for couple Hours Today is the day!!! No Matter the result for me my team won already when i See the faces this Morning everyone is hungry hungry about Football Let’s fucking Go Panthers💚💛💙— AUBA⚡️ (@Auba) November 16, 2020
A furious Aubameyang while replying to a tweet, urged the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to take responsibility.
“This will not demotivate us, but people need to know and CAF need to take responsibility,” the 2019/2020 joint-highest goalscorer added. “(It is) 2020 and we want Africa to grow, but this is not how we will get there.”
Ça nous démotivera pas mais ils faut que les gens sachent et surtout que la @CAF_Online prennent ces responsabilité.
2020 et on veut que l’Afrique grandissent ce n’est pas comme ça qu’on va y arriver!!! https://t.co/7qCeYNaBmJ— AUBA⚡️ (@Auba) November 16, 2020
See photos of the Gabon players sleeping at the Banjul International Airport:
