Côte d’Ivoire Sacks Coach Despite Hope of Qualification to Next Round

Oluwasegun SanusiJanuary 25, 20241 Mins read709

Ivory Coast Football Federation (FIF) has announced the termination of head coach Jean-Louis Gasset’s contract, along with his assistant Ghislain Printant, following the team’s below-per-performance at the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.

The decision comes on the heels of a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in their last Group A match on Monday.

The loss, described by Gasset as a “nightmare scenario”, marked the heaviest-ever home defeat for a Cup of Nations host and raised serious doubts about Côte d’Ivoire’s chances of advancing to the knockout phase.

“The contracts of coach Jean-Louis Gasset and his assistant Ghislain Printant are terminated due to insufficient results”, declared the FIF in an official statement released on Wednesday.

Gasset, a Frenchman who took charge in May 2022, had guided the team to an opening 2-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau but faced consecutive defeats against Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria in the subsequent group matches.

The back-to-back losses put Côte d’Ivoire in a precarious position, relying on other match outcomes to potentially secure a spot among the four best third-placed teams.

Should Ivory Coast manage to qualify for the next round, Emerse Faé, a former Premier League player with Reading, will take over as the interim boss until the end of the tournament.

The FIF’s decision to relieve Gasset of his duties underscores the high expectations placed on the host nation, who have only failed to progress from the group phase once in the last nine editions of the AFCON, back in 2017.

Gasset, 70, had hinted at discussions regarding his future with FIF president Yacine Idriss Diallo after Monday’s devastating defeat.

Despite the challenging circumstances, there are still multiple scenarios in Groups E and F that could see Ivory Coast advancing to the knockout stage.