NEW DELHI: Veteran French coach Jean Louis Gasset, who was fired at the last Africa Cup of Nations by the Ivory Coast before it went on to win the trophy, has died aged 72, his former French club Montpellier announced on Friday.
Host Ivory Coast was sensationally beaten 4-0 by minnow Equatorial Guinea in its last group game at the 2023 edition in the biggest upset in tournament history, finishing third in its group.
Gasset was dismissed after the shock defeat, but the Ivorians earned a reprieve as one of the best third-placed finishers to qualify for the knockout rounds and eventually won the title under Gasset’s assistant, Emerse Fae.
One month after returning to France, Gasset was appointed coach at Olympique de Marseille but stayed for only four months.
He returned to Montpellier last season, but when it was headed for relegation, he was sacked in April.
Gasset spent most of his playing career at Montpellier, where his father had been one of the club’s founders.
The cause of death was not given. Agencies
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