By Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Daily Nation
Published on 2024-01-24 15:43:34
Ivory Coast, the hosts of the Africa Cup of Nations, are facing turmoil after sacking coach Jean-Louis Gasset midway through the tournament, as announced by the country’s football federation (FIF) on Wednesday.
“The contracts of coach Jean-Louis Gasset and his assistant Ghislain Printant are terminated due to insufficient results,” the FIF said in a statement.
The decision comes after the Ivorians suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea in their last Group A game on Monday. The two-time champions need results to go in their favor in Wednesday’s final group matches to reach the knockout phase as one of the four best third-placed teams.
If Ivory Coast does squeeze into the last 16, Emerse Fae, one of Gasset’s assistants, will take over as interim boss until the end of the tournament. Former Nantes and Nice midfielder Fae played alongside Didier Drogba in the Ivorian team that lost the 2006 Afcon final to Egypt.
“The Ivorian Football Federation expresses its regrets at the performance of the Elephants during the group stage,” the FIF statement added.
Frenchman Gasset had been in charge since May 2022 but paid the price for back-to-back group defeats by Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria following an opening 2-0 win over minnows Guinea-Bissau. There are still multiple scenarios in Groups E and F that could send Ivory Coast through.
Gasset had indicated after Monday’s game that he would meet FIF president Yacine Idriss Diallo to discuss his future. “When you have a scenario like that, bordering on a nightmare, there’s not much you can say or do,” Gasset said after the match. “This result is catastrophic, and I am, of course, the first person responsible,” he added.
Appointed to succeed compatriot Patrice Beaumelle, Gasset was in his first international coaching job, having spent the rest of his career in France. His former teams include Montpellier, Bordeaux, and Saint-Etienne. The 70-year-old was also notably the assistant coach to Laurent Blanc with the French national team, as well as at Bordeaux and Paris Saint-Germain, spells in which both clubs won Ligue 1 titles.
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