AFCON: Gabon captain Aubameyang tests positive for COVID-19

The
Arsenal
striker
was
one
of
three
members
of
the
travelling
Gabon
party
to
produce
a
positive
result
after
the
team’s
flight
landed
in
Yaounde.

It
means
the
Premier
League
star
is
set
to
miss
his
team’s
opening
Group
C
game
against
Comoros
on
Monday.

The
Gabon
Football
Federation
issued
a
statement
on
its
official
Facebook
page,
with
a
headline
of
“Aubameyang,
Lemina
and
Yala
positive”.

The
statement
read:
“Arriving
this
morning
at
Yaounde
on
a
special
flight,
the
Panthers
of
Gabon
submitted,
like
all
delegations,
to
an
antigen
COVID-19
test
at
the
Nsimalene
airport.

“Captain
Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang,
Mario
Lemina
and
assistant
coach
Anicet
Yala
have
not
escaped
[COVID-19].

“But
as
required
by
the
health
protocol
in
this
area,
they
subsequently
underwent
a
PCR
test,
the
results
of
which
will
confirm
or
deny
the
status
of
the
latter.”

Lemina
is
another
key
player
for
Gabon,
with
the
midfielder
having
played
for
Juventus,
Southampton,
Fulham
and
now
Nice.

Aubameyang
missed
the
start
of
the
Premier
League
season
after
testing
positive
for
coronavirus.

More
recently,
his
Arsenal
future
has
become
clouded
by
uncertainty
after
he
was
stripped
of
the
club
captaincy
and
dropped
by
manager
Mikel
Arteta
following
a
disciplinary
breach.

Gabon
are
also
due
to
face
Ghana
on
January
14
and
Morocco
four
days
later.