The Ivorian Football Federation dismissed national team coach Jean-Louis Gasset on Wednesday during their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations being hosted in the country until February 11, due to poor results. The federation stated, "I am terminating the contract of coach Jean-Louis Gasset and his assistant Ghislain Printant due to poor results," and clarified that "Emerse Faie, one of Gasset's assistants, will temporarily take over as the coach of the 'Elephants.'"
Ivory Coast suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat against Equatorial Guinea in their last group stage match on Monday. The Ivorian team needs favorable results from the matches of the fifth and sixth group teams taking place on Wednesday evening to be among the best four third-placed teams to qualify for the Round of 16.
The titleholder, with wins in 1992 and 2015, has three points from an opening victory against Guinea-Bissau (2-0), followed by a loss to Nigeria (0-1), before the humiliating defeat against Equatorial Guinea, which was the worst in their history on home soil. Ivory Coast failed to reach the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations just once in their last nine participations, that being in 2017.
