Emilio Nsue: 2023 AFCON Golden Boot Winner Accuses Equatorial Guinea Of Fraud

2023 AFCON Golden Boot winner, Emilio Nsue has accused his country, Equatorial Guinea of committing financial fraud during the tournament.

Emilio Nsue was arguably the most prolific player in Equatorial Guinea’s 2023 AFCON squad as he scored five goals to finish as the tournament’s highest goalscorer.

He won the tournament’s Golden Boot award though his country finished in the round of 16 in which they lost to Guinea.

After picking up the golden boot in Ivory Coast, his country, Equatorial Guinea banned him indefinitely alongside another player, Iban Salvador for allegedly being indisciplined during the tournament.

In his reaction to the ban, Emilio Nsue appeared on Africa Futbolera’s Instagram Live and claimed that the Equatorial Guinean football administrators took out €1 million from the prize money they earned after the tournament.

He also alleged that the country’s FA didn’t congratulate him for winning the golden boot, didn’t provide kits for them ahead of their group stage game against Nigeria which ended in a 1-1 draw, and the FA owed the hotel they used in Ivory Coast.

The 34-year-old Emilio Nsue who currently plays for a lower league club in Spain, Intercity, said he would not play for Equatorial Guinea again if things are not made right in the country’s football system.

The former Birmingham City and Middlesbrough forward said: “They have dropped me without explanation and they have invented an illegal internal regime. They have publicly humiliated me.

“These corrupt individuals managing football in Equatorial Guinea took 1 million euros for themselves, leaving the national team in poor conditions.

“I received congratulations for my top scorer award from the Ivorian authorities, not from my own country. My country has been ungrateful to me.

“They want to change the sports project and bring in Brazilians. You are shameless, we are the tenth-best team on the African continent. They take money everywhere, they owe us money and they are stealing it.”

He added, “Before the match against Nigeria, the players did not have any outfits ready. The equipment used in the national team is paid by the players and not the Federation.

“The FA threatened certain local players and took money from them, but I said no and this is unfair. They humiliated me and threw me out. The National team is above everything and everyone.”