Sometimes, a photo from a football match can reflect a lot more than just the game itself. Sometimes, a photo from a football match can reflect the huge and complicated processes of a country.
Last night, after another draw, their third in a row, Gabon was eliminated from African Cup of Nations while it hosting it. Thus, Gabon has become the fourth team ever to host the tournament and not qualify from the group stage, and the first to do so since Tunisia in 1994, 23 years ago.
Fans abandoned minutes before the final whistle, when the score from the other match showed that Burkina Faso leads on Guinea- Bissau 2-0, and it was clear that Gabon will not continue in the competition. Some of the players were crying, some were laying silent, and only Pierre-Emeric Aubameyang went alone, quietly, without talking to anyone, straight to the dressing room.
There are professional explanations for the failure of Gabon. Some would say that Aubameyang did not take enough on himself beyond scoring. Others say that the squad of Gabon (ranked 134 in the world) is just not good enough. Some would blame the new coach.
But the story of Gabon in this championship is actually a lot bigger. It is film material. To understand it, one needs to keep track of Gabon characteristics as a state, and the political and social role and context of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
Gabon is a home to only a million and a half people. Most of them are Christians who speak French and Bantu. Gabon is one of Africa's largest oil exporters. Yet, about a third of the population is defined as those living in extreme poverty. Since independence from France in 1960, three presidents ruled Gabon,two of them from the same family - Bongo. The second president, Omar Bongo, ruled for more than four decades in the country, and continued to maintain close bonds with France, under a very simple formula "Francafrique". Francafrique is a well-known concept in the post-colonial internal African politics. The local ruler receives military and political support, and in return – he is spoiling France with good business options in the country. Crude oil and minerals like candies. France held this kind of relations with various leaders in the continent.
Relations between France and Gabon have changed in 2009 when Omar Bongo left the power, and his son, Ali Bongo, won in a "democratic" election. Ali did not give the French the treat like his father, and actually cooled the relations with them. Ali had new partners - the Chinese. China and Gabon relations started in the beginning of the millennium, but a series of transactions and agreements with Ali Bongo gained the Asian country a foothold in one of the oil empires of Africa. France, in return, decided that it would demand an international investigation by the United Nations, the IMF and the World Bank, regarding corruption in the country. If it wasn’t so hypocritical and sad by France, it was funny.
A year ago, Aubameyang won the African Player of the Year award. He was the first Gabonese player to do so. Aubameyang, Dortmund's biggest star and an idol in Gabon, dedicated his award to his family and friends, the Gabonese people, and the President - Ali Bongo. This statement was not for nothing. In August 2016, the country held presidential elections, and the first time in years - in front of the Bongo representative, there was a very strong opposition candidate - Jean Ping.
Ping lost the elections by few votes due to the official count. He claimed that he won the election and that the election was rigged and corrupt. His supporters heard, and took it to the streets.
Riots and clashes between opposition supporters and the police lit the capital, where 1,000 people were arrested and another 5 were killed. So things got out of hand, the authorities shut down the Internet in the capital Libreville. Eventually the police took control of the mob, and Ali Bongo remained as president. Despite Ping’s appeals and the resignation of ministers and MPs, Ali have not vacated the chair. The opposite is true. He launched four giant football stadiums ahead of AFCON 2017. All stadiums are very impressive from the outside, but do not fit the size of the modest football nation of Gabon. By a coincidence or not, those stadiums were built by a Chinese construction company. There’s reports that next to the stadium in Port Gentil, was deserted residential project for the homeless whose construction was halted in the middle, due to the works for the tournament. In general, the investment in this AFCON is crazy - around four billion dollars. There is no problem with investing such funds, but when the funds are from taxes, while people in the country lack the most basic things - such as electricity, water or a roof - it tastes bad. To say the least.
Toward the championship, the ground in Gabon began to bubble again. The opposition activists have launched a major campaign against holding the tournament in the country. Black and red posters with the players were hung around Libreville and Franceville. "You are not the team of the Gabonese people but the team of the dictator" was written on them. A hashtag was launched for the protest called #CAN17WeCANnot. If that was not enough, in December, a month before the championship, Spaniard Antonio Camacho was signed as a coach of the national team. The announcement came out from - you can guess - Ali Bongo’s office. At first, said the contract is in the amount of $ 2 million a year, but after protests it was said on reports that he was about 800,000 per year, for all the staff. Anyways - the arrival of the Spaniard, who his last position was coach of China (surprised?) in 2013, raised more critics by opponents of the president.
Through all this mess, Gabon arrived in AFCON. Under the testing eyes of a nervous ruler, with the pressure of the new coach and a staff, with a lone mega star with everything on his shoulders, and a lot of political tension inside the dressing room.
The bad results led to pressure, and it was already clear from the first game - Gabon is not at the level of the rest of the stronger sides in the tournament. The amendment with Guinea-Bissau, and later with Burkina Faso raised the level of stress in the host country to new heights. "It is clear that the political situation has affected our preparations for this championship," said goalkeeper Didier Ovono in a press conference before the match with Cameroon. "We started badly. Something is happening here, and it’s not a simple situation none of us," he concluded.
And there lays the failure Gabonese AFCON campaign. The political situation in the country had a large influence on what happened to the team during the tournament, especially in terms of the relationships between the players. Unlike Aubameyang, not all players support the president to remain in power. According to reports, serious clashes between supporters of Ali Bongo (led by Aubameyang) and opposition supporters (reportedly goalkeeper Didier Ovono and Mario Lamina) tore the dressing room. And not only it. The Panthers did not really enjoy the support of the home crowd. The fans themselves were divided, as part of the political storm in the country.
So Gabon is out, but this failed Africa Cup of Nations campaign will have its consequences or effects on the political and social future of the country, and the image of Aubameyang, descending alone from the field, face signed, tells the whole story.
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Thumbnail photo by EPA