Six players per room, “a bad hotel”, two and a half hours from the stadium, the coach of The Gambia, Tom Saintfiet, believes that his players “are not respected” by the organization of the CAN, before their round of 16 against Guinea, Monday in Bafoussam.
“My answer must be a little diplomatic”, warns the Belgian technician at a pre-match press conference on Sunday, stating at the outset that he “love being here”, for the very first participation of the “Scorpions” in the African Cup.
But he paints a bleak picture of his team’s reception conditions in a hotel in the Bafoussam region.
” I have never seen this “
“Six players sleep in the same room, with the same bathroom, the same shower”, and “only two, three members of staff have a single room, the others sleep two in the same bed, in the time of the Covid”, describes Saintfiet.
“The hotel and the infrastructure where we are, I worked 14 years in Africa, I’ve never seen that”, insists the Belgian.
His team “must travel two and a half hours to go to the stadium, as we have to be there an hour and a half before that makes us leave four hours before the match. But science says you have to eat three and a half hours before the game, you can’t eat when you want? » he asks.
“We are professionals”, continues Saintfiet. “We are a small country like Malawi or Zimbabwe, but we have to be respected. We are here to write history. I have great players (who play) in Europe, they are not respected by the organization, and it’s really a shame. »
In Bafoussam, Gambia plays Monday against Guinea, and Senegal faces Cape Verde on Tuesday.
This creates “favoritism”
“When you organize a tournament with four teams in a stadium, and you pay, you pay the hotels, each team needs the same level (of service), it’s respect for each team”, asks the coach.
“Because when you create differences between teams, when big teams have better hotels, nice infrastructure, near the stadium, and small countries have bad hotels, you create favoritism”, insist Saintfiet.
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“If Gambia are African champions or Cameroon, it must be decided on the pitch, not at the hotel”, he hammers.
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