Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang clarifies AFCON exit and slams disciplinary rumours

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has insisted that he has left the Africa Cup of Nations on medical grounds amid rumours that Gabon sent the Arsenal striker home due to disciplinary issues.

Aubameyang was ruled out of his nation's opening game against Comoros after a positive Covid-19 test before being left out of the starting line-up for the draw with Ghana.

That was because the Gabonese medical team had discovered "cardiac lesions" shortly before their second game of the group stage.

The 32-year-old, who captains Gabon, has now been sent home for further tests along with Nice 's Mario Lemina, but reports quickly emerged on social media that the pair had contravened disciplinary protocols.

However, Aubameyang took to Twitter on Monday to quash the rumours, tweeting: "We have problems that are already complicated to solve, then on top of that there are rumours.

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"In short, we have health to take care of first and foremost. I won't go back on these false rumours and I sincerely hope that our team will go as far as possible."

Ex- Fulham and Southampton midfielder Lemina also took to social media to address the issue, writing on his Instagram Stories: "I'm not even going to feed lies that seek to harm. I have nothing to do [with it]."

Aubameyang and Lemina were controversially spotted partying ahead of the tournament, seemingly ignoring Covid-19 protocol.

Gabon manager Patrice Neveu confirmed the decision was taken in order to allow testing which cannot be carried out at the tournament.

"Since yesterday, the decision was taken to send them home to their club," Neveu told Goal. "We can't judge it here [in Cameroon], we can't assess the pathology of Covid here.

"It's important that Mario returns to Nice and Pierre returns to Arsenal. It's a decision that we've taken among ourselves.

"Losing Pierre-Emerick and Mario, it's a lot for this team. We don't have the squad of Nigeria or Morocco, and we know we're in a hard competition."

The situation comes on the back of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta 's decision to strip Aubameyang of the captaincy in December for disciplinary reasons.

Having travelled to France to visit his mother, the former Borussia Dortmund star arrived back in north London later than permitted.

Arteta has since frozen Aubameyang out of the Gunners' first-team setup and his time at the Emirates appears to be up.

The Spaniard has remained coy on when - or even if - the forward will return to the fold this season and told reporters after his side's 5-0 victory over Norwich City on Boxing Day.

"He wasn't selected for today's match," Arteta stated. "We'll take it game by game. That was the decision."