Confederation of African football deplores Banjul airport incident

Caf deplores Banjul airport incident

JOHANNESBURG, November 17 (ANA) – The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has taken exception to the Gabon national men’s football team being stranded for several hours at Banjul airport in Gambia’s on Sunday.

Arsenal captain and Gabon player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang said his team were made to feel like hostages at the airport for hours on Sunday ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Gambia on Monday.

Gabon would go on to lose the Group D Afcon qualifier 2-1 to their hosts. It was Gabon’s first defeat in the group, as both teams are now tied at the to on seven points with Gambia only ahead on goal difference.

Caf said in a statement on Monday: “The Confederation of African Football has called an emergency  video conference meeting on Monday afternoon with representatives of the Gabonese and Gambian federations, to rule on the incident that occurred yesterday at the Banjul airport in The Gambia.

“Gabon’s national team, which arrived for their return leg of the Cameroon 2021 qualifiers, was held up for several hours before being allowed to enter the Gambian territory.

“During the call, the secretary general of Caf clearly deplored this unfortunate situation before informing the two parties of his decision to seize the disciplinary commission in order to examine the causes of this incident, so as to establish the responsibilities and apply the consequent sanctions.

“The secretary general of Caf welcomed the state of mind of the two parties, who held exchanges which were respectful and courteous.” – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman