The Africa Cup of Nations always promises an eventful build-up of surprise events and stories, and so far 2024 has proved no different.
Before the competition kicks off on Monday afternoon, Gambia head coach Tom Saintfiet has claimed his team were forced to abort their flight to the Ivory Coast when their plane ran out of oxygen.
Saintfiet told BBC Sport Africa: "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.
"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."
The Air Cote d'Ivoire airline confirmed there was a pressurisation issue, and the team refused to return to the same plane for their rearranged flight. Although Saintfiet led a training session in the interim period, he said some players couldn’t participate because "they still have headaches and that is worrying, while some of the players are still dizzy."
The incident has sparked anger from Saintfiet and Young Boys defender Saidy Janko, who branded it "unacceptable". He wrote on Instagram: "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.
"We are grateful that everyone is feeling well but this is a situation that has to be addressed going into the AFCON, as being only one of our obstacles on international duty. This is unacceptable."
Gambia Football Federation (GFF) president Kaba Bajo has distanced from Saintfiet's suggestion that there was a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, saying: "It's not clinically, scientifically or medically proven."
He went on to downplay the incident, adding: "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."
This comes at a heated period for the Gambia national team, with players and the GFF in a dispute about bonuses. The players boycotted a training session as they demanded a bonus for qualifying for the Nations Cup; the national government has since paid a reported €500,000 to the team, which is expected to reach the players imminently.
They face holders Senegal on Monday afternoon, looking to better their quarter- final finish in 2021 at just their second ever Afcon tournament.
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