Ivory Coast Sports Minister Accuses National Team Players of Silence Over Bonus Scandal
Ivory Coast’s Minister of Sports, Alain Lobognon, has launched a scathing attack on members of the national football team, accusing them of complicity in a lingering scandal involving unpaid bonuses following their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) triumph.
In a recent interview with Webfootballclub, Lobognon expressed deep frustration with what he described as the players’ failure to speak out after financial irregularities emerged in the aftermath of the Elephants’ historic tournament victory in Equatorial Guinea.
“If the funds were not transferred, where are they? Who took them? The answer seems to interest no one but me,” Lobognon said, before pointedly adding, “I have no opinion on the players. They are all accomplices of this mafia.”
The minister’s remarks refer to the long-running controversy surrounding bonuses promised to the national team for their AFCON success—Ivory Coast’s first continental title in 23 years. While the government had reportedly disbursed funds to reward the players, many have claimed they never received the full amounts. Lobognon believes the players’ failure to go public with their grievances allowed the problem to fester.
“If they had spoken out after the CAN, the matter would have been resolved. But since then, they’ve all stayed quiet,” he added. “They allowed the Ivorian Football Federation to discredit me. Yet they were in direct contact with the Federation, which kept promising they would be paid ‘very soon’.”
The minister’s comments mark a significant escalation in a conflict that has simmered beneath the surface of Ivorian football for months. While some players have privately expressed dissatisfaction, few have addressed the issue publicly—something Lobognon sees as enabling a culture of impunity.
For Lobognon, the silence of the squad—led at the time by Manchester City’s Yaya Touré—has contributed to what he calls the “prospering” of dishonest practices within the national team setup. He believes a lack of transparency and accountability continues to undermine trust in Ivorian football institutions.
The fallout from the bonus dispute has already cast a shadow over Ivory Coast’s AFCON triumph, once hailed as a unifying moment for the nation. Now, with a senior government official openly accusing players of complicity, the affair threatens to deepen the rift between the country’s football leadership and its stars.
As the debate intensifies, it remains unclear whether the players or the Ivorian Football Federation will respond to Lobognon’s accusations. But one thing is certain: the controversy surrounding the 2015 bonuses is far from over.
