AFCON 2024 THREAD -

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

This thread is dedicated to the non SE games.

Mods, pls , we need this thread in this forum so we don’t have to go to the Arsenal and Chelsea forum to discuss Afcon. It belongs here because SE in the completion , it’s the premier African competition and we need to monitor our opponent and potential opponents so we can have a focused discussion.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Teams are arriving.

[media] [/media]
[media] [/media]

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

According to your twisted logic then, we should allow any non SE-related thread here just so we don’t have to go to the Arsenal and Chelsea forum since it’s all soccer and SE, after all, play soccer… and it’s not like you haven’t tried previously, Mr. Indiscipline


Cheers.

[Coach]

Pathetic! @Mazi, *wink*, no further questions Your Honour.


Afcon 2023: Gambia squad 'could have died' on aborted flight to Ivory Coast

The Gambia squad travelling to Ivory Coast for the forthcoming 2023 Africa Cup of Nations "could have died" during a flight that was aborted, coach Tom Saintfiet has claimed.
The Air Cote d'Ivoire flight turned around just nine minutes after leaving the Gambian capital Banjul on Wednesday.

Saintfiet believes there was "a lack of oxygen" on the plane and says this prompted many of the delegation to fall asleep.

The coach praised the quick thinking of the pilot for keeping his team safe.

"The local crew said there was a problem with the air conditioning before we took off but that it would be all fine when we took off," Saintfiet told BBC Sport Africa.

"After a few minutes, it was very hot in the plane.

"We all fell asleep because there was a lack of oxygen - some of the players couldn't be woken up. The pilot noticed and we had to return.
"People got headaches and if the flight had gone on for another 30 minutes, the whole team would have died. The strange thing is that the oxygen masks didn't come out - it's good that the pilot realised that this was a deadly situation and so turned back.

"But we are still in shock."

Air Cote d'Ivoire is the official airliner of Afcon 2023, and a statement from the company said the air crew decided to turn back because of a pressurisation problem.

It added that the issue could have been resolved by a mechanic back on the tarmac, but that the flight was ultimately cancelled because of the impact earlier delays had on the crew's working hours.

Saintfiet believes the passengers could have been facing carbon monoxide poisoning, but Gambia Football Federation (GFF) president Lamin Kaba Bajo refuted that suggestion.

"I never felt it and it's not clinically, scientifically or medically proven," Kaba Bajo told the BBC.

"Those are individual observations and perceptions but there was not anything like that. I was almost sitting next to the coach and I didn't see anyone collapse.

"I know that people, when a plane takes off, they sleep.

"Some people were dozing, sleeping, but we landed safely. There was not a single incident, we all came down and boarded the bus to go back to the terminal."

The incident came four months after the Gambian team, who will face defending champions Senegal, Cameroon and Guinea in Group C, were caught up in September's devastating earthquake in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, when over 2,000 people died.

Despite the experience on board the aborted flight, The Gambia chose to train upon their return to Banjul on Wednesday night, even though some of the squad were unable to do so.
"Some players could not train because of what happened. They still have headaches and that is worrying, while some of the players are still dizzy," added Saintfiet.

"The team requested to train as we had been travelling overnight from Saudi Arabia to return home on Sunday, and Monday as well.

"We trained in a bid to release the stress."

The Gambia, who reached the quarter-finals of their maiden Nations Cup two years ago despite being the lowest-ranked team, are due to face neighbours Senegal on Monday in their opening game.
The Scorpions are now set to travel on an Airbus 319 provided by Air Cote d'Ivoire, departing Banjul for Yamoussoukro at 16:00 GMT on Thursday.

A GFF statement said Gambia President Adama Barrow had intervened to obtain permission to land in the Ivorian capital rather than the initially intended destination of Abidjan.
Saintfiet said he and team captain Omar Colley had refused to return to the same plane for the flight across West Africa.

"We want to fight and die for the country on the football pitch but not off it," the Belgian explained.

Kaba Bajo said the players had not been asked to fly on the same plane again, but on a similar Bombardier model to the one used in the initial flight.

Video footage posted on social media by one of the squad, former Manchester United youngster Saidy Janko, shows heavily-sweating players leaving the plane after its return to The Gambia.
Now based in Switzerland, the Young Boys striker called the situation "unacceptable".

"As soon as we entered the small plane hired to fly us, we noticed the immense heat that left us dripping in sweat," he wrote.

"It was assured to us by the crew that the air condition[ing] would start once in the sky.

"The inhumane heat mixed with the occurring lack of oxygen left many people with strong headaches and extreme dizziness. Furthermore, people started falling deeply asleep minutes after take-off."

Janko also praised the pilot, saying the consequences could have been a lot worse.

"Knowing what could have happened, if we would have been exposed to the situation for any longer - in an airplane, running out of oxygen," he said.

In a statement, the GFF said that "preliminary investigations indicated that there was a loss of cabin pressure and oxygen".

[Sleaky72]

Madness!
Thank God for their lives.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Wow! Thats some scary stuff.

[Dammy]

Thank God for the Gambian team. That was really scary!

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Afcon is here.

Civ GB -3pm EST.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

[media] [/media]

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

Mods, please move this thread before this forum becomes a free for all


Cheers.

[Enugu II]

Please move to appropriate forum.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Ceremony don start.
[media] [/media]

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Yemi Alade looks heavy

[Lolly]

This thread is dedicated to the non SE games.

Mods, pls , we need this thread in this forum so we don’t have to go to the Arsenal and Chelsea forum to discuss Afcon. It belongs here because SE in the completion , it’s the premier African competition and we need to monitor our opponent and potential opponents so we can have a focused discussion.

[anointed]

Why is the match not starting 9.00pm on the dot? That must be a lapse
and TV peeps may not like that.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Game on! Afcon don start.
CIV v GB is absolutely SE related. BTW, Mikel is doing the commentary. Paper tiger should go hug a transformer. In the rain jare.

https://a4.king-shoot.io/kooralive/1447 ... ea-bissau/

[iworo]

Why is the match not starting 9.00pm on the dot? That must be a lapse
and TV peeps may not like that.

It’s called African Time .

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Beautiful stadium

[anointed]

Why is Zaha not here?

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

I thought I heard Mikel's voice but it sounds like it's Amokachi

[anointed]

1-0 Fofana

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Goaaaal CiV. This GB team looks timid

[King Futcha]

what a shot