Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has stepped away from the Gabon national team. The 37-year-old captain has put his international future on hold after publicly criticizing the way he was treated following Gabon’s failed AFCON 2025 campaign.
Speaking on Canal+ Afrique, Aubameyang said he had been left feeling humiliated after being excluded from the national team before later being reinstated.
Gabon-based reporting of the interview says the striker described himself as being “on stand-by” from national-team duty for now.
That wording matters.
Some international outlets have reported the development as Aubameyang’s permanent retirement from international football.
But the strongest available reporting of his own words leaves the door open.
This is a withdrawal.
A rupture.
But not a permanent retirement established beyond doubt.
The dispute traces back to Gabon’s collapse at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
After the tournament, Aubameyang and Bruno Ecuele Manga were among those pushed out as authorities reacted to the Panthers’ failure.
Aubameyang was later reinstated, but the damage to the relationship appears to have remained.
For Aubameyang, the issue is personal as much as sporting.
He said he had represented Gabon at AFCON despite carrying an injury and rejected the idea that an individual player should carry responsibility for a wider team failure.
He also said his image had been damaged by the episode.
The consequences now land on new Gabon coach Sébastien Migné.
Migné has been charged with rebuilding the Panthers, but one of the country’s most recognisable footballers has effectively removed himself from immediate selection.
Aubameyang remains one of the defining figures of Gabon’s modern football era.
His absence therefore creates more than a selection problem.
It creates a leadership question.
And it leaves player and federation facing the same unresolved issue: can this relationship still be repaired?
Aubameyang’s position now creates a clear problem for Gabon.
He has stepped away from the national team, has publicly criticised the way he was treated and has left his future participation unresolved.
For Migné, that means planning without one of Gabon’s most influential attacking figures while the relationship between player and federation remains unsettled.
A federation response could clarify the situation.
So could a further statement from Aubameyang.
Until then, the strongest available frame is the one his own wording supports.
He is on stand-by.
He is not currently available to Gabon.
And whether he returns remains an open question.
Cranse Sports
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