Overview
- Acting sports minister Simplice-Désiré Mamboula announced on television the team's suspension, the dissolution of the technical staff, and the exclusion of Bruno Ecuele Manga and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
- The announcement video was briefly removed from official platforms before being reposted, and no timetable was given for the suspension.
- Gabon finished bottom of Group F with three losses, falling 3-2 to Ivory Coast after leading 2-0 in their final match.
- Aubameyang had already returned to Marseille for treatment on a thigh injury and later wrote that the team's problems were "much deeper" than him.
- President Brice Oligui Nguema had publicly criticized the team’s direction, and the government’s action could prompt scrutiny under FIFA rules against state interference.