Star players Aubameyang and Manga are back, but the Football Association continues its search for a new head coach.
Published January 14, 2026
Gabon’s Football Association has announced the suspension of government measures imposed on the national team following their early withdrawal from the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), as well as the lifting of measures against Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ekuele Manga.
Both players were left out of the Gabon squad. The coaching staff, including head coach Thierry Muyuma, were fired. After Gabon failed to win a match in a tournament in Morocco, the Gabonese government announced on national television that the entire team had been suspended.
The soccer federation announced on Monday that the “government measures that ordered the suspension of the national team and the exclusion of two players” were lifted. Mouyouma and his coaching staff remain fired.
“Following the national team’s unsatisfactory result at the African Cup of Nations, the government’s suspension of the national team and the exclusion of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ekuele Manga have also been lifted,” it said in a statement.
“Minister of Sports Paul Ulrich Kessany underlined the urgency of upcoming deadlines, in particular the draw for the 2027 African Cup of Nations,” it added.
Gabon lost games in Group F to Cameroon, Mozambique and title holders Ivory Coast.
FIFA, the world’s governing body for soccer, takes a strict stance against government interference in the management of soccer associations, so this punishment could have led to the soccer association’s suspension.
