Gambia’s Africa Cup of Nations squad come ‘within minutes of dying’ as ex-Man Utd player suffers ‘extreme dizziness’

Gambia’s Africa Cup of Nations squad were reportedly minutes from disaster during their flight to Ivory Coast.

The players and staff of Gambia were onboard a flight from the capital city of Banjul as they began their journey to the host nation Ivory Coast for the tournament which is due to begin this weekend.

However, it was reported that a number of players passed out after boarding the plane.

According to the Daily Mail, the pilot was forced to return to Banjul Airport less than 10 minutes after takeoff as the oxygen supply was running low.

On board the plane was former Manchester United player, Saidy Janko, who wrote on social media: “Unacceptable. After travelling 32 hours in total from Saudi Arabia (Training Camp) to The Gambia with long layovers in Istanbul and Casablanca, we were supposed to fly from Gambia to Ivory Coast for the AFCON today.

“As soon as we entered the small plane that was hired to fly us, we noticed the immense heat that left us dripping in sweat. It was assured to us by the crew that the air conditioning would start once we are in the sky.

“The inhumane heat mixed with the occurring lack of oxygen left many people with strong headaches and extreme dizziness. Furthermore, people started falling deeply asleep minutes after entering the aircraft/takeoff.”

Meanwhile, the coach of Gambia, Tom Saintfiet said to Nieuwsblad: “We could all have been dead. We all fell asleep quickly. Me, too. I had short dreams about how my life was done. Really and truly.

“We almost got carbon monoxide poisoning. Another half hour of flying and we would all have been dead.”

The Gambia squad also included Jacob Mendy of Wrexham, Stockport County’s Ibou Touray and Cardiff City man Ebou Adams.

A statement from the Gambian Football Federation said: “The Chartered Flight carrying the Scorpions to the African cup of Nations has returned to Banjul due to technical problems. The flight was nine minutes airborne when the crew realised and immediately requested to return to Banjul.

“Upon landing, preliminary investigations indicated that there was loss of cabin pressure and oxygen.

“However, the technical team of the operating company of the flight, Air Cote d’Ivoire is further assessing the situation to establish what caused the lack of oxygen and cabin pressure.”