Pierre Emeric Aubameyang and his Gabon teammates had to spend the night at the airport in preparation for a major CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Gambia.
Aubameyang used social media to draw attention to his plight after arriving at Banjul airport on Sunday, in the run-up to the Group D collision in the Gambian capital.
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The Gabonese delegation was informed that due to an administrative problem it was not allowed to leave the airport and that it was forced to sleep on the ground before being allowed to leave the morning after the government intervention.
@Aubameyang7 and his teammates from Gabon were stranded at the Gambia airport for more than six hours after landing for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
They finally left at 6 a.m., only 10 a.m. for pic.twitter.com/0ZJpulM0qQ.
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No reason was given to prevent the team from leaving the airport and going to the hotel upon arrival. The Gabonese Federation has posted pictures of the incident on its Facebook page, but without any comment.
Aubameyang tweeted a reference to previous weaknesses of which the African Football Association was accused: Good work CAF, just like in the ’90s.
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It doesn’t demotivate us, but people need to know and CAF needs to take responsibility, he later added. 2020, and we want Africa to develop, but this is not the way to do it.
But Gambia’s head coach Tom Senfiet told ESPN that Gabon was an engineer in his situation after he refused to undergo the KOVID-19 tests on arrival.
Gabon refused the test, he said. They arrived last night at 11:00. 30 yards to The Gambia, where they refused to submit to airport tests.
That’s why they stayed there so long, the hotel refused to test them. The FIFA and CAF rules are clear; you have to be tested 24 hours before the match in your own country.
When we travelled to Gabon, we were tested at the airport and in the hotel. There we were checked twice, even though on arrival we had certificates from Europe, from Africa, that we had a negative result.
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They refused to play. If CAF would accept this, it would be a scandal with a pamphlet and the danger of a pandemic, because players can infect others, they can get sick or even die, and maybe the future clubs will refuse to release sick players when they come back.
It is impossible and it is irresponsible to play this game without checking the players when they arrive in this country.
Gabon takes first place in the group tournament, three points away from Gambia, which wants to reach the finals of the Nations Cup for the first time.
Before the game, Aubameyang said Gabon was even more determined to score after sleeping at the airport.
I know my team, they’re ready as never before, tweeted Arsenal on Monday. And they made the mistake of letting me sleep for a few hours. Today is !!!!
Whatever the outcome for me, my team has already won when I see the faces of all the hungry football players this morning.
The first two teams of the group, including Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, will reach the finals in Cameroon in early 2022.
ESPN has asked the President of the Gabonese Football Federation, Pierre Alain Munguenga, to submit additional comments.
Information from ESPN Ed Dove is included in this report.
