AFCON 2023: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana Sack Head Coaches

Despite the possibility of sneaking into the round of 16 stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after Wednesday’s last round of games Group E and F, hosts Cote d’Ivoire will be without their head coach Jean-Louis Gasset going into future games after his sacked was confirmed by the Ivorian Football Federation.

Jean-Louis Gasset guided the Elephants to their worst ever Afcon appearance that culminated in the humiliating 4-0 defeat against Equatorial Guinea.

The loss was the heaviest home defeat by the two-time African champions and became the first hosts of the tournament to lose two group stage games since they hosted the 1984 tournament.

Some Ivorians still have faint hopes of progressing to the last 16 as one of the best third-placed teams albeit a section of their fans took to the streets on Tuesday to vandilise public and private properties.

The Ivorians had been beaten 1-0 by Nigeria.

The team will now be led by Emerse Fae, one of Gasset’s coaches, on an interim basis.

The Ivorian football federation said it had “terminated the contracts” of 70-year-old Gasset and his assistant Ghislain Printant “due to insufficient results”.

The Ivorian football federation in a statement said it had “terminated the contracts” of 70-year-old Gasset and his assistant Ghislain Printant “due to insufficient results.”

Same fate also befell Ghana head coach Chris Houghton whose Black Stars side were unable to finish among the four best third-placed teams.

This was made known in a release by the Ghana Football Federation on Tuesday night, stating that the sack of the Englishman was decided by the executive council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

“The Ghana Football Association (GFA) wishes to announce that Chris Hughton has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the senior national team with immediate effect.

“The executive council has also taken a decision to dissolve the technical team of the Black Stars.

“The Ghana Football Association will in the coming days provide a roadmap on the future direction of the Black Stars,” the statement read.

Despite their 2-2 draw against Mozambique on Monday, the Black Stars still had a chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds as one of the best third-placed teams.

However, Cameroon scuppered that possibility after defeating The Gambia 3-2 on Tuesday to confirm the elimination of the Ghanaians from the tournament.