Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fined $10,000 for ‘undermining African football’ with airport posts

Twitter/Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Malik Ouzia @MalikOuzia_9 December 2020

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been hit with a $10,000 fine after being told social media posts showing his Gabon team sleeping on an airport floor last month ‘undermined the honour and image’ of African football.

Aubameyang took to Instagram to highlight his team’s predicament after they were held in an airport in Gambia for more than five hours ahead of an African Nations Cup qualifier, while officials argued over Covid-19 testing.

However, the continent’s governing body, the Confederation of African Football took exception to the posts, saying the 31-year-old had “publicly published offensive and degrading material”.

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.”

CAF’s disciplinary committee 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.

Additional reporting by Reuters. 

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