AFCON 2023: Emilio Nsue, E/Guninea on war path amidst ban
2023 AFCON Golden Boot winner Emilio Nsue is on war path with his country Equatorial Guinea, accusing the authorities of financial fruad during the tournament.
Nsue who scored five goals to achieve the feat just before his country crashed out in the round of 16 informed that he was ironically banned indefinitely by the country alongside other players for alledged indiscipline.
In his reaction to the ban, Emilio Nsue appeared on Africa Futbolera’s Instagram Live and claimed that the Equatorial Guinean football administrators took out €1 million from the prize money they earned after the tournament.
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He also alleged that the country’s FA didn’t congratulate him for winning the golden boot, didn’t provide kits for them ahead of their group stage game against Nigeria which ended in a 1-1 draw, and the FA owed the hotel they used in Ivory Coast.
The 34-year-old Emilio Nsue who currently plays for a lower league club in Spain, Intercity, said he would not play for Equatorial Guinea again if things are not made right in the country’s football system.
The former Birmingham City and Middlesbrough forward said: “They have dropped me without explanation and they have invented an illegal internal regime. They have publicly humiliated me.
“These corrupt individuals managing football in Equatorial Guinea took 1 million euros for themselves, leaving the national team in poor conditions.
“I received congratulations for my top scorer award from the Ivorian authorities, not from my own country. My country has been ungrateful to me.
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“They want to change the sports project and bring in Brazilians. You are shameless, we are the tenth-best team on the African continent. They take money everywhere, they owe us money and they are stealing it.”
He added, “Before the match against Nigeria, the players did not have any outfits ready. The equipment used in the national team is paid by the players and not the Federation.
“The FA threatened certain local players and took money from them, but I said no and this is unfair. They humiliated me and threw me out. The National team is above everything and everyone.”