AFCON2023: Nine minutes of drama in the sky, several Gambia players fainted due to lack of oxygen!
Reading Time: 3min | Thu. 11.01.24. | 14:01
"We would have been dead if we had stayed in the air for another half hour," says coach Saintfiet
The start of the African Cup of Nations is just around the corner, scheduled for Saturday, and everything will go according to plan. However, who knows what would have happened - and whether a tournament would have occurred - if a major accident in the sky above The Gambia had not been avoided. Their national team flew to the Ivory Coast, where 24 teams will fight for the championship title, but after only nine minutes in the air, they had to make an emergency landing at the Banjul airport.
The reason is that there was a problem with the oxygen supply in the small plane, which led to the dizziness of certain players and staff members. Some of them even fainted.
Tukio la kushtukiza limetokea kwa kikosi cha timu ya taifa ya Gambia 🇬🇲 wakiwa safarini kuelekea Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 kwa michuano ya AFCON 2023, wachezaji kadhaa wamekosa hewa na kuzimia kutokana na udogo wa ndege waliyotumia.
— Mozzart Bet Kenya (@mozzartbetkenya) January 11, 2024
Kikosi hicho kimerejea nchini Gambia.#AFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/TwfZ5cAbpp
The drama of it is evidenced by the words of Tom Saintfiet, the Belgian in the role of Gambia's coach.
"We could all have died. We fell asleep quickly. I had brief dreams about how my life ended. Really and truly," said Saintfiet in an interview with Nieuwsblad. "After nine minutes, the pilot decided to return to the runway because there was no oxygen. Some players did not wake up immediately after landing. We almost got carbon monoxide poisoning. We would all be dead if we had stayed another half hour.
"Now we are in Gambia and we don't want to fly that kind of plane anymore. I'm willing to die on the football field, but I'm not willing to die for my job off the field," added the coach.
In the meantime, the Gambian players arrived in Ivory Coast with another flight, and their player Saidy Janko said the whole thing was unacceptable.
"We travelled a total of 32 hours from Saudi Arabia (where the team was training) to Gambia, with long stops in Istanbul and Casablanca. We were supposed to fly from Gambia to the Ivory Coast, and as soon as we got into that small plane, we noticed the immense heat that made us sweat. The crew assured us that the air conditioning would start once we were in the sky. The inhumane heat, mixed with the lack of oxygen caused severe headaches and extreme dizziness. Some people fell into a deep sleep immediately after takeoff. While we were in the air, the situation worsened, the pilot had no other option but to initiate an emergency landing back at the Banjul airport nine minutes after takeoff. Which successfully happened. If it weren't for this, the consequences could have been worse! Knowing what could have happened, if we had been exposed to the situation longer - on the plane, without oxygen... ", explained Janko.
AFCON - GROUP STAGE
Saturday
23.00: (1.25) Ivory Coast (5.70) Guinea B. (13.0)
Sunday
23.00: (1.85) Ghana (3.60) Cape Verde (4.90)
Monday
17.00: (1.40) Senegal (4.60) Gambia (10.5)
20.00: (2.15) Cameroon (3.25) Guinea (3.90)
23.00: (1.45) Algeria (4.10) Angola (8.50)
Tuesday
17.00: (1.75) Burkina Faso (3.60) Mauritania (5.70)
20.00: (1.40) Tunisia (4.60) Namibia (10.5)
23.00: (2.15) Mali (3.25) S.Africa (3.90)
Wednesday
20.00: (1.30) Morocco (5.80) Tanzania (12.0)
23.00: (2.40) Dr Congo (3.20) Zambia (3.40)
***odds are subject to change***
