Gambia's soccer team was flying to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Wednesday evening when a serious incident on board the plane headed to the Ivory Coast forced them back within nine minutes from take off.
The plane experienced a sudden lack of oxygen in the cabin after supply failed, causing several players to pass out and fall asleep. The flight, which had just left the airport in Gambia's capital Banjul, was forced to return and make an emergency landing as oxygen supplies on board were dangerously low.
Saidy Janko, a former Manchester United player and a Gambia player, wrote on Instagram about the incident, describing how the "lack of oxygen" affected players.
"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," he wrote on the social media platform.
"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."
According to Janko, the situation "got worse" while in the air, "leaving the pilot with no other option than initiating an emergency landing back in Banjul airport nine minutes after takeoff." The player writes that, had they not returned to Banjul, "the consequences could have been a lot worse."
The 28-year-old player said he was grateful for averting a potential tragedy, but slammed his country for what he called an "unacceptable" situation.
"We are grateful that everyone is feeling well but this is a situation that has to be addressed going into the AFCON, as being only one of our obstacles on international duty," he wrote. "This is unacceptable and [as] such has to cease with immediate effect."
The Gambia Football Federation said in a statement on Facebook: "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 realized and immediately requested to return to Banjul."
The federation wrote that the company operating the flight, Air Côte d'Ivoire, was investigating the cause of the lack of oxygen in the cabin.
The team's coach, Tom Saintfiet, a Belgian national, told the Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad that they "could have been dead" and he was among those who fell asleep. "I had short dreams about how my life was done," he said.
The coach said the team is now in Gambia and no longer wants to fly with that type of aircraft.
AFCON is the main international men's soccer competition in Africa, which was held for the first time in 1957 with only three participating nations. It's now held every two years and involves 24 teams.
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