The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has fined Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the Gambia Football Federation after the Gabon team spent the night on the Banjul international airport floor ahead of an African Cup of Nations qualifier in November.
The continent’s football governing body handed Aubameyang a $10,000 fine for his social media posts when he and his Panthers team-mates were not allowed to the leave the Banjul international airport after they failed to tender their negative Covid-19 PCR test certificates and refused to undergo swabs on arrival.
The former Dortmund ace posted several photos on his social media platforms before and after the game one of which criticized CAF with the caption “We lost as men. With pride thanks Panthers” followed by the middle finger emoji.
“Aubameyang has publicly published offensive and degrading material that undermines the honour and image of the Confederation of African Football,” read a CAF statement.
“The CAF Disciplinary Board decided to impose a fine of 10,000 USD for breach of the values of sportsmanship and integrity on the Gabonese Football Federation for the regrettable behaviour of the player.”
CAF’s disciplinary board also fined the Gambia Football Federation 100,000 USD, half of which was suspended for 24 months for its role in the incident.
“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.
“The Disciplinary Board decided to impose upon the Gambian federation a fine of 100.000 USD (One Hundred Thousand US Dollars) of which 50.000 USD (Fifty Thousand US Dollars) are suspended on the condition that the federation is not found guilty of a similar offense within a period of twenty-four (24) months.”
The GFF have not publicly commented on the ruling but we understand they are consulting with their legal team and a decision is expected on Thursday.
However, Scorpions captain Pa Modou Jagne has joined the online conversation since the ruling was announced on Tuesday. The former FC Zurich defender tweeted ‘No comment’ before calling on President Adama Barrow to help the GFF pay the fine.
