Shortness of breath: Gambia team aborts World Cup trip – 01/11/2024 – The World Is a Ball

The Gambian delegation traveling to Ivory Coast this Wednesday (10) to compete in the African Cup of Nations faced a situation that could have ended in tragedy.

There was a failure in the plane’s oxygenation system after takeoff, and players, unable to breathe properly, lost consciousness before the pilot decided to return to the runway from where the aircraft departed, in Banjul, the Gambian capital, for a landing. of emergency.

According to Belgian Tom Saintfiet, Gambia’s coach, everyone narrowly escaped death.

“We were being poisoned by carbon monoxide,” he told broadcaster VRT in his country. “Some players did not wake up immediately after landing.”

“Moments of my life flashed through my head, I thought I was dying,” Saintfiet said, this time on ESPN. “I’m ready to die for Gambia, but on the football field, not off it.”

The time for a nonstop air journey from Gambia to Ivory Coast, which is in West Africa, is two and a half to three hours. According to Saintfiet, the pilot took nine minutes to make the decision to return to the starting point.

On social media, right-back Saidy Janko, 28, who plays for Young Boys (Switzerland), gave his account of the suffocating episode.

“As soon as we entered the small plane, we noticed intense heat, which left us dripping with sweat. The crew said the air conditioning would work when we were in the air. The inhumane heat mixed with the lack of oxygen left people with headaches and dizzy, and began to feel unconscious after takeoff.”

The team traveled in a chartered 50-seater plane, from the company Air Cote d’Ivoire, provided by the Gambia Football Association (AFG).

“Preliminary investigations indicate a loss of pressure and oxygen” on the plane, AFG wrote in a statement, citing information from the airline in Abidjan (the largest Ivorian city), “which is investigating what caused the lack of oxygen and pressure.”

After the scare, Saintfiet declared that the possibility of the team withdrawing from competing in the African Cup was considered.

“We have families, we have children, but they put us on the cheapest plane possible. We will fly on a real plane, not one like this,” said the technician.

Saintfiet said that AFG officials suggested that the team make another attempt to travel to Yamoussoukro, the Ivorian capital and site of Gambia’s first game in the African Cup, on the same plane, after repairs.

The proposal was rejected by the Scorpions (the nickname of the Gambian team). “If that’s the case, let’s go home, no World Cup”, said the 50-year-old coach, who has led the team since 2018.

Faced with the refusal, the federation moved and provided another aircraft, also from Air Cote d’Ivoire, but with greater passenger capacity (an Air Bus 319).

The measure satisfied the delegation, which agreed to board again this Thursday (11). The trip was completed successfully, without anyone running out of air.

The debut in the World Cup will be against Senegal, the current champion, on Monday (15). The other opponents of Gambia, who are competing in the competition for only the second time (the first was in 2021) and are underdogs in the group stage, are Guinea and Cameroon.

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