The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has issued a number of sanctions for breaches of its regulations.
There was a $10,000 fine for Arsenal striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang for his social media posts when he and his Gabon team-mates were not allowed to leave the airport on arriving in The Gambia.
“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.”
The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) has also been sanctioned for its role in the incident that saw the Gabon team sleeping on the airport floor on the eve of an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
“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,” the Caf ruling stated.
“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 are set to appeal against this decision claiming that the Gabon Football Federation did not inform it of the team’s travel plans and that there had been an issue over Covid-19.
The Gambian ministry of health authorities insisted that the Gabonese delegation failed to produce the relevant paperwork for negative Covid-19 tests and also refused to undergo swabs on arrival.
Other sanctions
Ibrahim Hassan Abdellatif from Egyptian club Pyramids FC was suspended for two years for failing a drugs test after the Confederation Cup semi-final against Guinea’s Horoya.
Caf has suspended 22 months of the ban on the condition that the player is not found guilty of a similar offence within two years.
His two-month suspension started on 18 November when he submitted a Therapeutic Use Exemption Application
Pyramids were also the subject of another disciplinary hearing for an incident during the Confederation Cup final against Morocco’s Renaissance Berkane where fans and club officials tried to attack the match officials.
The Egyptian club were fined $10,000 “for the regrettable behaviour of their spectators, players and officials.”
Sudan’s coach Hubert Velud was also fined $10,000 “for his unsporting behaviour towards the assistant referee” after a clash with the match official during a Nations Cup qualifier against visiting Ghana.
Caf’s statement reads: “After a decision by the referee in the penalty area, the Sudan Coach entered the field of play with a sprint towards the first assistant referee claiming a penalty.
“The assistant referee was sprinting towards the centre line and was blocked by the coach who verbally aggressed him saying “This is why African refereeing is behind”.
“The assistant referee asked the coach to let him pass yet he refused. The assistant referee pushed the coach, he then fell and exaggerated the fall.”
The Mauritania Football Federation was fined $10,000 “for the regrettable behaviour of their supporters”.
This after the fans launched “smoke… which prompted the stoppage of the match in the second half. of a Nations Cup qualifier against Burundi.”
Football Kenya Federation will have to pay $10,000 after two politicians decided to talk to the Kenyan team and “barged through the stewards arranged by Caf security officer.”
Benin fans also tried to breach the security cordon during their Nations Cup game against Lesotho which resulted in a $10,000 fine the security failure.
There was also a $10,000 fine for the Football Federation of Burundi after it failed to comply with Caf’s Covid-19 guidelines during the qualifier against Mauritania.
Everyone who has been sanctioned has three days to contest these decisions with Caf’s Appeal Board.