Gabon’s Sports Minister has announced the banning of veteran players Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ecuele Manga, the suspension of the entire national team, and the dismissal of the coaching staff following the Panthers’ disastrous performance at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
An injury-time goal by Bazoumana Toure handed defending champions Ivory Coast a 3-2 victory over Gabon on Wednesday, sealing the Panthers’ third consecutive defeat in the group stage. The loss left Gabon at the bottom of Group F, behind heavyweights Ivory Coast and Cameroon, as well as Mozambique.
“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,” Minister Simplice-Desire Mamboula said on Gabonese television late Wednesday.
Hours after the announcement aired, the video clip was removed from the ministry’s and the channel’s online platforms, only to be republished on Thursday.
The Council of Ministers had reviewed the national team’s performance following Sunday’s shocking 3-2 defeat to 102nd-ranked Mozambique, a result that ended Gabon’s hopes of advancing to the knockout stages.
Aubameyang returned to his French club, Marseille, after the loss due to a thigh injury.
“This has weakened part of our national identity,” Gabonese President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema said in an official statement on Wednesday. He added that the team highlights “two major problems: the lack of method and the dispersion of resources.”
The president promised “strong and structural decisions” aimed at restoring “rigour, responsibility, and ambition in the governance of national sport.”
However, these measures could put Gabon at odds with FIFA, which prohibits government interference in the affairs of its member associations.
