CAIRO — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been fined $10,000 for social media posts that tarnished the "honour and image" of the Confederation of African Football after his Gabon team spent the night on an airport floor ahead of an African Cup of Nations qualifier last month.
Aubameyang and his team mates were stuck at the airport in the Gambia after arriving for a qualifying game. They were not allowed to leave as officials argued over COVID-19 testing.
The Arsenal striker posted pictures of players sleeping on the airport floor and wrote: "Nice job CAF, it's as if we were back in the 1990s.”
He later added: “This will not demotivate us but people need to know and CAF need to take responsibility. (It is) 2020 and we want Africa to grow but this is not how we will get there.”
record pic.twitter.com/ycUGbPa6Cf
— Aubameyang P-E (@Aubameyang7) November 16, 2020
— Aubameyang P-E (@Aubameyang7) 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— Aubameyang P-E (@Aubameyang7) November 16, 2020
CAF’s disciplinary committee said the content was offensive and degrading. African football's governing body also fined Gambia’s FA $100,000, half of which was suspended for 24 months.
“The Gambian federation did not comply to the loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship values and rules of fair play concerning the reception of the Gabonese delegation,” CAF said in a statement.
Gabon arrived shortly before midnight and were allowed to go their hotel about five hours later. They lost 2-1 to Gambia later in the day.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
