The Gabonese government has announced the banning of veteran players Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ecuele Manga, the suspension of the national team, and the dismissal of the entire coaching crew following the Panthers’ disastrous outing at the Africa Cup of Nations.

An injury-time winner by Bazoumana Touré condemned Gabon to a 3-2 defeat against defending champions Ivory Coast on Wednesday.

The loss marked Gabon’s third defeat in as many matches, leaving them bottom of Group F, below Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Mozambique.

“Given the Panthers’ disgraceful performance at the AFCON, the government has decided to dissolve the technical staff, suspend the national team until further notice, and remove players Bruno Ecuele Manga and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” Sports Minister Mr. Simplice-Désiré Mamboula said on Gabonese television late on Wednesday.

A few hours after the announcement was broadcast, the video clip was removed from the ministry’s official platforms and the television channel’s online pages, before being republished on Thursday.

The team’s performance was reviewed by the Council of Ministers following Sunday’s 3-2 defeat to 102nd-ranked Mozambique, which ended Gabon’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages.

Aubameyang returned to his French club, Marseille, after that defeat due to a thigh injury.

“This has weakened part of our national identity,” Gabon’s President, Mr. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, said on Monday, according to an official statement released on Wednesday.

“The national team highlights two major problems: the lack of method and the dispersion of resources,” he added.

The President promised “strong and structural decisions” to restore rigour, responsibility, and ambition in the governance of national sport.

However, the government’s actions could expose Gabon to sanctions from world football’s governing body, FIFA, which prohibits government interference in the affairs of its member associations.