AFCON: Cote d’Ivoire fires Gasset appoints interim

By Biwah Bryan

The head coach of the Ivorian National team, Jean-Louis Gasset has been relieved of his position as coach by the Ivorian football fédération midway through the Africa Cup of Nations.

The head coach was fired alongside his assistant Ghislain Marie Joseph following their poor performance with the Elephants of Ivory Coast as revealed in the fédérations publication “insufficient results in accordance to the contract of objectives they had with the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF).”

Despite the team’s chances of qualifying for the knockout stage of the AFCON still alive, the fédération took the bold step to discard the coaching staff and appoint Emerse Faé, a former Ivorian midfielder on interim basis.

Ivory Coast failed to secure automatic qualification to the tournament’s knockout stage when they suffered their biggest ever home defeat to Equatorial Guinea, losing 4-0 in their final group match.

The Elephants are now on standby, hoping that their only three points from three group games will be enough to qualify for the last 16 as one of the best four third-place finishers.