Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has travelled to Africa to represent Gabon in the Africa Cup of Nations, had tested COVID positive and was asked to quarantine. The player, as mentioned by the Gabon Football Federation, did not take part in their clash against Ghana after he was diagnosed with “heart lesions”.
These lesions were found in a check conducted by the medical department in charge of the tournament, who wanted to see if Aubameyang is 100% fit to return to the pitch after contracting the virus. However, the latest discovery puts his participation in the tournament in jeopardy and could impact his involvement with Arsenal going forward.
A lesion is described as a damage or abnormal change that occurred to tissue and could happen to any functioning part of the human body. Although such cardiac lesions aren’t life-threatening, the Gabon Football Federation decided to take no risks with the player’s health. Not just Aubameyang, but two other Gabonese players had been diagnosed with a similar condition.
Another similar news that broke on the same day was Alphonso Davies’s heart muscle inflammation, which happened for the same reason as Aubameyang’s, for having contracted the virus. Footballers across the world are being checked for such cardiac issues after recovering from COVID.
Gabon’s defenders Sidney Obissa and Lloyd Palun were the others who had tested positive before the Ghana fixture.
Gabon managed to squeeze four points in their opening two games without their star forward. Having won their opening fixture in Group B against Comoros, they managed to squeeze a last-gasp equalizer against Ghana last night to make it four points in two games, keeping them in the second position behind Morocco in the group. The Gabonese unit will face Morocco next up on January 19 to seal a place in the round of 16.
Aubameyang has not featured in a professional football match for over a month after he was sidelined from the Arsenal squad due to disciplinary reasons.
He hasn’t been in the best of goal-scoring form this season, having scored just seven times across all competitions, which includes a hat-trick in the league cup fixture against West Brom (6-0).
Also read 👉 Aubameyang stripped of Arsenal captaincy, dropped from squad ahead of West Ham visit
