{"id":7187,"date":"2026-01-01T17:14:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T17:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7187"},"modified":"2026-01-01T17:14:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T17:14:47","slug":"gabon-government-sacks-aubameyang-suspends-national-team-at-afcon-2025-africa-cup-of-nations-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7187","title":{"rendered":"Gabon government sacks Aubameyang, suspends national team at AFCON 2025 | Africa Cup of Nations News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and one other played banned after Gabon eliminated from Africa Cup of Nations group stage.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 1 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">1 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Gabon\u2019s government has suspended the national team, sacking\u00a0 the coach and kicking star forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the squad in the wake of three defeats at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals.<\/p>\n<p>Gabon\u2019s acting Sports Minister Simplice-Desire Mamboula on Wednesday announced the suspension \u2060of the national team on television after they finished last in their group and \u200bwere eliminated from the tournament in Morocco.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 2 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cGiven the Panthers\u2019 disgraceful \u200dperformance at the Africa Cup of Nations, the government has decided to dissolve the coaching staff, suspend the national team until further notice, and exclude players Bruno \u200dEcuele Manga \u2060and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,\u201d Mamboula said after a 3-2 loss to the Ivory Coast in Marrakesh.<\/p>\n<p>Gabon, coached by former defender Thierry Mouyouma, had already been eliminated after losing their opening pair of Group F fixtures to Cameroon and Mozambique, but in their final outing were 2-0 up over the defending \u200bchampions before conceding three goals and going down \u200cto a second-string Ivorian lineup.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Aubameyang nor veteran defender Ecuele Manga played on Wednesday, with Aubameyang having returned to his French club Olympique de Marseille for treatment on \u200ca thigh injury.<\/p>\n<p>The former African Footballer of the Year responded on social media, saying on X: \u201cI \u200cthink the team\u2019s problems are much deeper than \u2060the individual I am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aubameyang, at 36, had likely played his last game for Gabon in their defeat by Mozambique, as was also likely the case with the 37-year-old former \u200cCardiff City defender Ecuele Manga.<\/p>\n<p>Disbanding the national team used to be a common reaction in Africa to disappointing results, but since world football\u2019s governing \u200dbody FIFA has taken a hard stance against government interference in the running of football associations, it has been a rare occurrence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and one other played banned after Gabon eliminated from Africa Cup of Nations group stage. Published On 1 Jan 20261 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Gabon\u2019s government has suspended the national team, sacking\u00a0 the coach and kicking star forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the squad in the wake [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}