Outspoken sports journalist, Mamadou Gueye, believes the reason Ivory Coast lost Wednesday’s World Cup 2018 qualifying game at home to Gabon is because the players are more interested in “partying and womanizing” instead of focusing on the football.
The Elephants lead their Group C but could have made the qualification a lot easier with a win at home against Gabon. But following a comfortable 0-3 win in Libreville few days earlier, Marc Wilmot’s men were shocked 1-2 in Bouake to blow the group wide open with Morocco who are just a point behind, and Gabon a further 2 points behind the Ivorians, still in the hunt for a place at Russia 2018.
Speaking on Agoo TV’s Dwidwamu Sports Friday morning, Gueye accused players of womanizing instead of reserving their energies for the main tasks for which they get invited to camp.
“Ivory Coast won in Libreville but lost at home, it was a shock but I know these Ivory Coast players and I used to expose them regarding that.
“It’s about partying, celebration, womanizing and most of our national team [players] especially when they come back home, all their girlfriends come out. Now, if you have three or four beautiful ones, you want to service them all. How can you play?
“It’s difficult to understand. You go to Libreville; you beat them 3-0. In Ivory Coast, they could not even run. You could see they were tired,” he told host Adam Adjei.
Gueye added: “When we won the Afcon, I worked as the head of Sports for the national broadcaster for two years, I was the most hated man by the Football Federation because I was telling it loud and clear ‘these boys are womanizing, going to night clubs till 6am picking girls while they are under the national jersey and taking them to the hotel…
“The president of the football Federation, everybody was angry with me. They called my CEO and I told him I was doing my job, if it’s not true, let them come and sue me…”
