By Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Guardian Nigeria
Published on 2024-01-25 04:00:23
The Africa Cup of Nations has seen its first set of casualties in the form of Black Stars’ Chris Houghton, Cote d’Ivoire’s Jean-Louis Gasset and The Gambia’s Tom Saintfiet who have all been relieved of their coaching duties following their ouster from the group stage of the tournament.
Ghana announced on Tuesday that they had parted ways with Houghton after the team’s elimination was confirmed, while Cote d’Ivoire followed suit with the dismissal of Gasset following their defeat by Equatorial Guinea.
Houghton, who took over as coach in March, failed to lead the Black Stars to the last 16 after the team slumped to a 2-1 defeat by Cape Verde in their opening match and drew with Egypt and Mozambique.
The Ghana Football Association announced the immediate relief of Houghton from his position as well as the dissolution of the Black Stars’ technical team.
Tom Saintfiet quit earlier on Tuesday after his team finished bottom of Group C, while Cote d’Ivoire sacked Gasset and his assistant Ghislain Printant despite the team still having a chance to progress to the last-16 of the competition.
Gasset’s termination came after a 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea, marking the heaviest home defeat in their history and making them the first AFCON host to lose two group games since they also did in 1984.
The Ivorian Football Federation stated that the contracts of Gasset and Printant were terminated due to insufficient results. However, it is worth noting that Gasset won 10 of his 17 games in charge of the country, with two of his four defeats coming at this tournament.
In the coming days, the Ghana Football Association will provide a roadmap on the future direction of the Black Stars, while Cote d’Ivoire has appointed Emerse Fae, one of Gasset’s coaches and a former Reading and Cote d’Ivoire midfielder, on an interim basis as they await their final fate in the tournament.
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