Srinagar: In a major incident from the World of football Gambia football team were involved in a faulty flight on to way to Ivory Coast for participation in 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2023) that had to be aborted.
The Air Cote d’Ivoire flight had to make a swift turnaround just minutes after departing from the Gambian capital Banjul on Wednesday.
Coach Tom Saintfiet claimed that there was a deficiency of oxygen, resulting in many members of the delegation falling asleep due to the conditions.
The coach commended the quick thinking of the pilot for ensuring the safety of his team.
“The local crew said there was a problem with the air conditioning before we took off but that it would be all fine when we took off,” Saintfiet told BBC Sport Africa.
“After a few minutes, it was very hot in the plane.
“We all fell asleep because there was a lack of oxygen – some of the players couldn’t be woken up. The pilot noticed and we had to return”.
“People got headaches and if the flight had gone on for another 30 minutes, the whole team would have died. The strange thing is that the oxygen masks didn’t come out – it’s good that the pilot realised that this was a deadly situation and so turned back.
“But we are still in shock.”
Saintfiet suggested that passengers could have been facing carbon monoxide poisoning.