CAF fines Pierre Aubameyang $10,000 for impairing the image of African football

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has sanctioned Gabon star, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after his action before their 2021 AFCON qualifier against Gambia last month.

The Arsenal captain has been ordered to pay $10,000 by the continent football governing body for publishing “offensive and degrading material” that “dents image of the African football ruling body”.

The punishment was meted out to the striker for slamming CAF after being made to feel like a “hostage”, having been forced to sleep in an airport alongside his teammates ahead the Group D Africa Cup of Nations qualifier versus Gambia.

“Mr. Pierre Emerick Emiliano Francois Aubameyang has publicly published offensive and degrading material that undermines the honour and image of the Confederation of African Football,” a statement from CAF read.

“In terms of the Caf Statutes & Regulations, in terms of Articles 10, 11, 43.1, 46, 82 of the Disciplinary Code, 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 Panthers were billed to play the West African country in Bakau on Monday, but they arrived at the Banjul International Airport late on Sunday night.

Upon their arrival, the Panthers were delayed at the airport with reports indicating their passports were seized despite providing their coronavirus results to the immigration officers for checks.

Owing to their exasperating ordeal, the 31-year-old who was named African Player of the Year in 2015 took to Instagram in the early hours of Monday to post videos and photographs initially of his team-mates lounging around having had their passports taken from them by security.

As the hours passed, the photos started to show the majority of the squad attempting to sleep on the floor of the airport, using their luggage as pillows.

Having arrived at 23:30 local time, Aubameyang began to show his frustration after waiting for three hours, posting a video at 02:31 that was accompanied by a caption that read: "Still waiting to enter the Gambia, and we play at 4 pm. Nice."

Patrice Neveu’s side lost the game 2-1 courtesy of goals from Modou Barrow and Musa Barrow at the Independence Stadium.

On the positive side, the Gabonese skipper can challenge this decision before Caf’s appeal board within the next three days.