Coup d’Etat in Conakry: how the exfiltration of footballers from Syli is organized
Guinea-Morocco, which was scheduled for Monday, September 6 in Conakry, was canceled after the coup d’état in the country the day before. The match counts for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The Moroccans were able to leave the scene on the evening of the putsch. Guineans are expected to follow soon. The clubs that employ them pool their strengths.
The military took control of Guinea.
The military took power in Guinea on Sunday, September 5. They ousted President Alpha Condé , recently re-elected for a much contested third term. The putsch intervened when the Syli had to face Morocco the next day, Monday 6, in Conakry, for the qualifications of the World Cup 2022. The Atlas Lions were already there, in a hotel located not far from the presidential palace, theater operations. They heard the crackle of weapons. The Guinean players were quite far from the events. They didn’t hear anything. The first were able to return to Morocco the same day . The latter, for their part, are still waiting to be exfiltrated. Their employer clubs are mobilizing.
Five clubs are concerned. Toulouse for Issiaga Sylla, Saint-Etienne for Saïdou Sow, Sochaux for Florentin Pogba, Clermont Foot for Mohamed Bayo and Nantes for Abdoulaye Sylla. Each team has at least one representative in a WhatsApp group created for the occasion. We find there indeed Damien Comolli (president of Toulouse), Fréderic Émile and Samuel Rusten (intendant and director of Saint-Étienne), Samuel Laurent (director of Sochaux), Jérôme Champagne (advisor to Ahmet Schaefer, the president of Clermont ) and Franck Kita (director of FC Nantes).
The Elysée and Matignon involved
According to L’Equipe , these leaders contacted the French embassy in Conakry, the Élysée, Matignon and the Professional Football League. They mobilized a plane. He was only waiting for authorization to fly over Guinean territory. The French sports daily informs that the authorization in question should not delay.
Guinea’s air, land and sea borders were closed on the day of the putsch. but the next day, Monday, September 6, the new strongmen of Conakry reopened them.
The French played collectively
In their approach, the managers of the French clubs played together. Indeed, reports L’Equipe , they have associated foreign teams with players stuck in Conakry. They are Liverpool (Naby Keita) and Olympiakos (Mady Camara and Aguibou Camara). Keita and the two Camara should share the same flight as their compatriots evolving in France.
Anyway, despite the putsch, the safety of Guinean players is not threatened, according to their coach Didier Six. “There is no feeling of insecurity , he assures in L’Equipe . It is not a state of war. We are especially trying to bring in the players so that they can join their clubs. The people here are handling it all very well. Humanitarian and commercial flights are resuming so it should happen quite quickly. ”
By: RUTEMBESA Anicet 🛃Africa News24
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