The plane carrying the Gambia players forced to make an emergency landing. The Gambia players onboard heading to Ivory Coast for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations lost consciousness due to failed oxygen supply just nine minutes after the plane took off.
The Gambia Football Federation releases a statement to the development and called for calm
“Gambia Football Federation (GFF) regrets to inform the general public that the Chartered Flight carrying the Scorpions to the African cup of Nations has returned to Banjul due to technical problems. The flight was nine minutes airborne when the crew realised and immediately requested to return to Banjul. Upon landing, preliminary investigations indicated that there was loss of cabin pressure and oxygen.
However, the technical team of the operating company of the flight, Air Cote d’Ivoire is further assessing the situation to establish what caused the lack of oxygen and cabin pressure. In this regard, the team, including the players and staff are now on their way to base at the Ocean Bay Hotel as they await further instructions. It is important to note that every member of the delegation is safe and in sound health.
The public will be kept informed with regard to any development on the matter. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused as we seek to find a quick solution for the team to travel to Ivory Coast as soon as possible.”- GFF
Gambia’s head coach Tom Saintfiet, had this to say after the worrying situation.
“We could all have been dead. We all fell asleep quickly. Me, too. I had short dreams about how my life was done. Really and truly. After nine minutes the pilot decided to return because there was no oxygen supply. Some players did not wake up [until] immediately after landing. We almost got carbon monoxide poisoning. Another half hour of flying and we would all have been dead.” He said
The Gambia team is expected to kick start their opening game against the defending champions Senegal on Monday January 15, 2024.