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Equatorial Guinea's President Promises National Football Team Over $1 Million Bonus


FILE — Equatorial Guinea's midfielder Jannick Buyla celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's fourth goal during the Africa Cup of Nations 2024 group A match against Ivory Coast in Ebimpe, Abidjan on Jan. 22, 2024.
FILE — Equatorial Guinea's midfielder Jannick Buyla celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's fourth goal during the Africa Cup of Nations 2024 group A match against Ivory Coast in Ebimpe, Abidjan on Jan. 22, 2024.

ABIDJAN — Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema on Tuesday promised the West African nation’s football team playing in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations a bonus worth over $1 million after their upset 4-0 win over hosts Ivory Coast on Monday.

Equtorial Guinea advanced to the next round of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after leading Group A of the tournament.

A government statement released Tuesday said Obiang Nguema, the world's longest-standing ruler, had watched excitedly as the team won on Monday.

The government also declared a public holiday after the team humiliated the Ivorians in Abidjan to finish ahead of the AFCON hosts and heavyweight contenders Nigeria.

Obiang Nguema’s son and the nation’s vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, promised an additional $54,000 to the squad for every goal that was scored against the Ivorians.

The West African country of around 1.5 million people has had only two presidents since independence from Spain in 1968. Obiang ousted his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema in a coup in 1979 and has been accused by critics of amassing great personal wealth despite doing little to pull the country out of poverty.

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