Gabon’s sports minister has announced sweeping sanctions against the national football team following its poor outing at the Africa Cup of Nations, including the suspension of the entire squad, the dismissal of the coaching staff, and the banning of senior players Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ecuele Manga.
The decision came after Gabon suffered a dramatic 3–2 defeat to defending champions Ivory Coast national football team on Wednesday, December 31,with Bazoumana Touré scoring a late winner. The loss marked Gabon’s third defeat in three matches, leaving the Panthers bottom of Group F behind Ivory Coast, Cameroon national football team and Mozambique.
Speaking on Gabonese television late Wednesday, sports minister Simplice-Desire Mamboula said, “Given the Panthers’ disgraceful performance at the AFCON, 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.”
Although the video announcement was briefly removed from official platforms a few hours later, it was republished on Thursday, January 1.
Gabon’s campaign had already come under scrutiny after a 3–2 defeat to 102nd ranked Mozambique earlier in the tournament, a result that confirmed the team’s elimination from the knockout stages. Following that loss, Aubameyang returned to his club Marseille with a thigh injury.
President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema also weighed in on the team’s struggles, describing the situation as damaging to the country’s identity. “This has weakened part of our national identity,” he said in an official statement. He added that the national team’s problems reflected “a lack of method and the dispersion of resources.”
The president pledged what he described as “strong and structural decisions” to restore discipline, responsibility and ambition in the management of national sport.
However, the government’s intervention could draw scrutiny from FIFA, which strictly prohibits political interference in the affairs of its member football associations.
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