According to Gabon publication L’Union, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has tested positive for Covid-19 on his arrival in Yaounde, Cameroon ahead of the African Cup of Nations.
Having undertaken a rapid antigen test (lateral flow), the Arsenal striker is now awaiting the results of a follow-up PCR test to confirm whether or not he needs to go into isolation.
The report claims the player had tested negative before leaving Dubai where Gabon held a pre-tournament training camp.
Former Southampton player Mario Lemina and assistant coach Yala Anicet have also tested positive.
News of the positive cases comes after Aubameyang and Lemina were filmed ‘partying’ in Dubai. We’re not sure of the details of the social engagement (see @GFFN tweet below) so it seems pointless to pass judgment at this stage.
Mario Lemina & Pierre Emerick Aubameyang videoed partying in Dubai 4 days before AFCON begins, seemingly without a care for COVID-19. Both have now tested positive for the virus. (🎥 @Stockton928) pic.twitter.com/V4xA1W7uqo
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) January 6, 2022
Gabon play Comoros on Monday in their AFCON opener, then tackle Ghana and Morocco on Friday, 14th January and Tuesday, 18th January respectively. We’re not sure on the Covid protocols in Cameroon but we’d imagine he might be in danger of missing a couple of games if his PCR test confirms the positive result.
That would be a real shame for a play who must be champing at the bit to play some competitive football following his Arsenal exile.
This man’s not having a good month.
Entirely his own doing.
Don‘t know why this has been downvoted tbh. Of course it‘s his fault.
I guess the downvotes are because El Mintero is confidently projecting blame on Aubameyang seemingly with very little evidence as to what has actually occurred.
Auba is an arsenal player. He has been a good servant to the club during a difficult period in our history. His name deserves more respect.
why of course?
It never rains, it pours.
Never heard of Comoros before. Is it a new country?
Founded in 1503 brother!
Try again. Discovered in 1503, which is a huge difference, with current nation state founded in 2001, per quick Google search. I’m by no means a geography buff, but these things DO change quite routinely, and I’d never heard of Comoros myself. Not sure how it’s insulting or disrespectful for someone to say they’ve never heard of a particular country.
Try again. Discovered in 1000BC by indigenous seafaring people from the Indonesian archipelago.
First actual archaeological evidence of human activity is from 8th century AD
You know you could just Google it up instead of being disrespectful
In what way was he disrespectful please?
Google is your friend 🙂
Sometimes
Lol
I use dudckduckgo coz it’s not spying on me
“I use dudckduckgo…”
Ever wondered how they make money?
What a total idiot. Needs to grow up and we’re not going to be able to give him away at this rate.
What a totally idiotic comment!
You’d think Auba was arrested drink-driving without a seatbelt at 2AM with the amount of pearl-clutching that we’re seeing.
I still maintain that most of the anger surrounding Pierre is due to his bad form and salary package.
I totally agree. I’m totally ok with arsenal moving on from auba as he’s no spring chicken and doesn’t suit or style per se. However would I like to have a player of aubos quality coming off the bench/ or sharing time with the other forwards in the final stages of the league season? Yes I would!! We can’t paint ourselves into a corner for the rest of the season. Injuries/covid etc we need everyone. Our final 5 games could be ESR PEPE and aubo due to circumstances
Good sensible comment.
Need more of this.
Exactly.
Harsh to blame a man for his sickness.
No, its not harsh to blame a man for acting like an irresponsible clown, during a global pandemic who then falls ill (letting down his country and his family) directly due to said irresponsible behavior.
Any more irresponsible than 60000 crammed into The Emirates, every other week?
He’s had covid twice, the same amount of times as Arteta. I guess he’s an idiot also
yep,I watch from Barcelona, and play a game of spot the mask with my partner.
It’s not just that.
As well as 60000 shouting, singing, hugging at the stadium, they’re commuting and packing the trains/buses and filling the pubs – which are much worse than Auba’s “party” video.
These same people are now on their high horse because Auba’s out of the team, and they’re ready to see the back of him (which I am too).
How many of them spent Chriatmas or New Year around as many or more people than what we see in the video.
Bloody hypocrites
Yeah its already been confirmed to have been a team meal at a hotel…But the media wants to continue the agenda and the pearl clutchers continue because hes been shit and is on big wages.
Covid is going to be with us for a long time. Footballers aren’t in the bubble anymore, they have to live their lives at some point – they are actual real life people too
If he was getting drunk and staying up late just before a tournament that would be an issue, but to be fair this video just shows him having dinner at a bar
I get the toll the virus has taken and a lot of people’s continued desire for caution as a result. But seriously cannot wait for the moment in this crisis where we finally stop moralising an illness (that shit’s older than witch burning). Thankfully we’re getting closer to reaching that point now
Homer, if you work with other people and been to a social gathering during this pandemic, then by your own standards, you too have also been irresponsible.
That seems unfair. If you went to a social gathering, in public, at this record breaking stage of the pandemic in terms of ubiquity of the virus, right before the most important work event of at least several years, and you were the project leader and absolutely indispensable to that work event, it’d be more comparable.
Jack, unless you have an inside track, you don’t know anything about the social gathering he attended. Was he socially distanced? Did he eat a meal then leave? In the video he’s barely even breaking any protocols if at all. Bear in mind he’s going to be training with these guys in an environment a lot closer than seen in the video.
Cut the guy some slack
I have friends and family in Dubai. Entire UAE is seeing a big surge in covid numbers since around Christmas time. It’s not the best time to be partying in Dubai.
It’s an air borne virus, we can’t pitch fork the players for being out and about and also expect them to be in packed stadiums playing on a pitch with 22 players back up staff and squads etc. anyone of them could Of passed on the virus. You can’t expect them to do a test every 30 seconds
Jokes aside – how many times is this now? I recall it being numerous. Not a judgement but it seems he’s been hit before.
I also thought he had at the start of the season.
Get well auba
I think everyone knows by now that the omicron variant quite commonly reinfects people who have recovered from earlier covid infections–something that was quite rare with earlier variants.
is it a case of the virus going dormant then re-activating?
The last one was malaria.
I don’t really think being filmed in a dark room with loud music 4 days before a competition means he was actually less fit for the competition. If he was drinking or staying up late then yeah, but I don’t like it when assumptions like this are made when footballers live their lives
Yeah it would be really quite bizarre to think that they wouldn’t like to go out and enjoy themselves once and a while.
But as he tested positive for covid, he is less fit for the competition. I don’t see either the article or the GFFN tweet making any assumptions beyond that.
Auba is about days away from leading Gabon into an important tournament, yet he is partying in Dubai days before, during a pandemic? Reckless in my opinion. It’s the kind of behaviour that lost him the captaincy.
Looks like a dinner room with just his teammates
He’s been fined for partying by his national team.
I hope you have a news source for that claim.
He wont.
Doesn’t appear a sensible approach from a mature player about to represent his country in a major international tournament. Is he having a mid-life crisis?
Might be a matter of perspective– but 32 is still ‘early-life’– crisis or no.
How so? Life expectancy for men in Gabon is 66 years old. In England it’s 79. If we give him the mean of that, to account for growing up Gabonese but now living in England and being wealthy, we get 72.5. That would mean Auba is 45% of the way through his life. If we are more generous, and give him the full English life expectancy, it’s still 41%. Seems fair to call that mid-life.
I appreciate the maths lesson but Auba grew up in France and spent some adolescent years in Italy. These are countries where infant mortality (the most important determinant of life expectancy) is really low. On top of that, he is also in a high income bracket.
As JW said, it’s a matter of perspective. Some people see a young persons as those who are Under 30 and some see it as those who are Under 35.
Maybe mature in years but not in behaviour off the pitch. This has been a running saga with Auba since his Dortmund days, and probably before. He consistently lets himself and others down. Doubt that it’s curable. Will make it more difficult to move him on.
There is a reason no other club was interested in him besides Arsenal.
I love AW, always will, but Auba was a last gasp ploy. Backfiring magnificently.
After the FA Cup Semi’s/Final, was that your opinion?
Did you want him to sign da ting?
Didn’t look like letting us down when his goals were winning us the FA Cup.
His performance has dipped, probably because he’s 32 and that’s what happens to most strikers at that age.
The rest is narrative to cover Mikel’s ass for giving the highest contract on the team to a an aging player who never suited his style and whose personality he doesn’t like.
I guess he won’t be playing for us for a while then.
Does this give us as many cases as Liverpool?
Gutted for him.
Deserves some better luck.
That party looks a bit sh*t
😂😂😂
Is this the second time he got covid? I know he had maleria last year.
Yes, before Brentford.
Certainly not surprising news.
Auba like-a party
Partey he don’t quit
Tierney shops at Tesco
Spurs are still shit
If Auba would have been banging in the goals, there would be waaaaaay less finger pointing going on. He’s done something to p*ss off Arteta and has been stripped of the captaincy; but come on give this guy a break – Covid cases are at a peak at the moment and he’s allowed to live a life.
Get well soon, Auba.
tbh none of us know how auba caught covid and that picture doesn’t exactly look like a party in a reckless “who cares about covid sense”. he’s been in airports, o a long plane journey, hes in a country where cases are rising……dudes just a bit unlucky imo – much like a lot of people who’ve tested positive, not everyone is carefree about this stuff. i wish he was playing better and dint fall out with Arteta and maybe i’d like to see him moved on and replaced but man the dude’s possibly gonna miss out on leading his country… Read more »
looks like Dortmund were not lying about his attitude!