Monday, January 17, 2022 at 1:23 PM• Jordi Tomasowa • Last update: 14:25

The Africa Cup is over for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabon captain has received permission from the Football Association to return to Arsenal due to heart problems. Aubameyang did not appear at the kick-off at Gabon on Friday for the game against Ghana, after the medical team of the African Football Association (CAF) diagnosed a heart problem in the 32-year-old attacker.

National coach Patrice Neveu confirms opposite GOAL that the attacker will be allowed to return to Arsenal due to ongoing health problems . The attacker has not played a minute at the Africa Cup after he tested positive for the corona virus on January 6. Aubameyang was supposed to make his appearance against Ghana (1-1 draw), but due to heart problems, he did not appear at the kick-off. The same goes for his teammates Axel Meyé and Mario Lemina.

“Since yesterday, the decision has been made to send them to their club,” Neveu told GOAL, referring to Aubameyang and teammate Lemina. “We cannot assess the seriousness of the corona infection here (in Cameroon, ed.). It is important that Mario returns to Nice and Pierre returns to Arsenal. It’s a decision we made between ourselves.”

Aubameyang, like his teammates Meyé and Lemina, became infected with the corona virus. For that reason, they had to miss the opening match against the Comoros (0-1 win). The trio would return to Gabon’s match selection on Friday after a negative test, but the CAF put a stop to that. “Research revealed heart defects,” the Gabonese federation explained. “The CAF didn’t want to take any chances.” No further details are given about the nature of the heart problems.

It is now known that inflammation of the heart muscle can occur after a corona infection. Bayern Munich defender Alphonso Davies also recently had corona and is now struggling with the aforementioned problem, it was announced last Friday. “We are conducting a follow-up investigation with every player with corona,” said trainer Julian Nagelsmann at the press conference. “Bee Phonzy we saw signs of a mild form of myocarditis (inflamed heart muscle, ed.). He is not currently training. He will not be available for the next few weeks.”