Côte d'Ivoire : "Je recevais des insultes et c'était à moi de m'excuser"... Le coup de gueule de Pépé
Having been excluded from the last Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast after mocking Morocco and criticizing dual nationals in a YouTube video, Nicolas Pépé has revisited this episode. With a certain bitterness.
Pépé was not allowed to play in the last Africa Cup of Nations. Left out of the Ivory Coast squad for the 2025 AFCON despite good performances with Villarreal, Nicolas Pépé recently experienced a difficult situation. The Ivorian winger paid the price for a video published in early December on Just Riadh's YouTube channel, in which he shared his daily life in Spain while discussing the upcoming continental competition.
In this segment, the 30-year-old player indulged in several jokes that quickly sparked controversy. He notably mocked the Moroccan national team about their continental record, triggering an outcry on social media. He also commented on the sensitive issue of dual nationals, arguing that a player who initially chose France should not subsequently join an African national team.
Pepe has no regrets
In an interview with Ivorian journalist Malick Traoré, Pépé stood by his statements. He claims to have personally approved the edit before publication and has no regrets: according to him, the video simply reflected his personality. "Before the video was released, I asked to see the footage to make sure I was happy with it, and when I saw everything, I gave my approval. I have no regrets because it's me, it was 100% me. That's what I wanted to share with people. It was me, and if I had to do it again, I would without hesitation," he asserts.
His remarks, however, had unexpected consequences, including a wave of racist insults online. "The day the video came out, my sister told me I was receiving racist insults on the internet. I thought to myself: tomorrow it'll be over. I looked it up and saw a lot of stuff with monkeys, etc. I thought I'd provoked them and they were responding in their own way. But it went on, it took on extreme proportions," Pépé points out.
The lack of support from his federation
Forced to apologize at the request of the president of the Ivorian Football Federation, who was "angry because of the video," the former Angers, Lille, and Arsenal player complied reluctantly. "I did it reluctantly because I was receiving insults, and it was up to me to apologize. But my president asked me to, so I did it."
Pepe, however, took this episode very badly, feeling he hadn't received enough support from his federation in the face of the racist insults. "I'm subjected to racist insults, I'm not playing in the Africa Cup of Nations, and the federation isn't defending me. (...) La Liga defends you, people defend you, but not your country. The statement came too late; the damage is already done. I would have preferred they did it sooner. It's like being crushed, and then crushed even more with this belated message." He still hasn't gotten over it.
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