Following the major failure of the Gabon national team in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco, Gabonese authorities announced a series of shocking decisions that sparked widespread controversy in local and continental sports circles.

According to the announcement, the government decided to completely dissolve the national team's technical staff, along with suspending the activities of the senior national team until further notice, an unprecedented move reflecting the official anger after the disappointing exit from the tournament.

The decisions also included excluding several of the team’s most prominent stars, led by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ecuele Manga, from representing the national team in the upcoming period.

These measures raised wide legal questions, especially as they represent direct government interference in football affairs, which explicitly contradicts the regulations of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), which prohibit any governmental body from interfering in the work of independent national federations.

These developments are expected to place the Gabon Football Federation under FIFA’s scrutiny, amid growing calls for urgent intervention by the international federation to examine the legality of the decisions taken, and the possibility of imposing sanctions that could reach the suspension of Gabonese football activities internationally, if violations of the regulations are confirmed.