The plane, which left the capital Banjul on Wednesday, had to turn around and land shortly after takeoff. According to a statement from the Football Association of Gambia, there was a loss of pressure and oxygen on the Air Cote d’Ivoire plane. LASK legionnaire Ebrima Darboe was also on board. His club confirmed this to the APA – Austria Press Agency.
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“We could all have been dead,” Gambia’s Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet was quoted as saying in the online edition of Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad. The 50-year-old continued to report that everyone on board quickly fell asleep, including him. The pilot decided to turn back due to an acute lack of oxygen. Some players did not wake up immediately after landing. “If we had flown for another half hour, we would all have been dead,” said Saintfiet.
The shock was also deep in Linz. According to a club spokesman, LASK did not yet have any further information as of Thursday afternoon. But Darboe responded to a request from the club and was on the plane. The 22-year-old is the only LASK player for the Africa Cup. The midfielder is on loan from AS Roma until the end of the season, and the Linz team also has a purchase option. Darboe played from the start in the most recent two league games in December; he played his last international game for Gambia a year and a half ago.
One of his teammates described the anxious moments on social networks. “As soon as we boarded the small plane that had been rented, we noticed the enormous heat,” wrote Saidy Janko from the Young Boys Bern on Instagram alongside moving images that show players sweating on their foreheads. The crew assured them that the air conditioning would come on as soon as takeoff took place.
“The inhumane heat and the lack of oxygen caused severe headaches for many,” explained Janko. The situation got even worse in the air. According to Janko, the plane landed back in Banjul nine minutes after takeoff. According to media reports, there was also a players’ strike during the last training session before departure – because of a dispute over bonus payments for qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Air Cote d’Ivoire is the official partner of the Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place in Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) from Friday. According to the tournament schedule, Gambia should start the competition against defending champions Senegal on Monday (3 p.m. CET) in the Ivorian capital Yamoussoukro.
