Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang documented his ordeal while stuck inside an airport on Sunday night as his Gabon side travelled to face Gambia.
The Arsenal striker and his teammates arrived in Gambia on Sunday night ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier but were apparently left waiting in the airport by staff. Some players were left to sleep on the floor and even had their passports confiscated despite proving they had passed Covid-19 tests.
After initially arriving at 23:30 it wasn’t until 06:00 on Monday that the team were allowed entry into the country. Their game against Gambia kicked off just ten hours later, with preparations surely disturbed by such a lengthy delay.
Aubameyang made clear his frustration over the wait on his Instagram story and Twitter in the early hours, posting pictures of himself and his teammates waiting around.
In one post Aubameyang claimed he was made to feel like a ‘hostage’ while he slammed the Confederation of Africa (CAF) for the poor organisation that lead to the ordeal.
In a message to CAF he wrote: “Just want to know why Gambia keep our passports for hours and they keep us at the airport are we hostage or what? Are you gonna close your eyes?”
At 6:00 am Aubameyang finally let his fans know that he and his teammates were on the bus and on their way out of the airport, thanking staff for ‘the extra motivation’ ahead of the qualifier.
However, Gabon went on to lose the controversial fixture 2-1, while Aubameyang did not get on the scoresheet.
As reported by the Telegraph, the Gambia Football Federation has claimed ‘complications’ at the airport over Covid-19 testing as the reason for the delay, while CAF has stepped in to launch an investigation into the issue.