“I have no regrets”: Nicolas Pépé returns to his non-selection for CAN 2025 after the video with Just Riadh

The video had cost him dearly. On December 5, Nicolas Pépé appeared in a video by YouTuber Just Riadh. The opportunity to share with his subscribers and fans his daily life in Spain, in Villarreal, where he has been playing since 2024, but also to launch the 2025 African Cup of Nations in which he was to participate with Ivory Coast.

He won’t be there after all. Because in the video, the former Lille resident makes two “jokes” which do not pass muster with the Federation and earn him his ouster. He particularly criticized the Moroccan selection, declaring: “How many stars do Moroccans have? A ? They must have won that in 1818, we weren’t born, even my daron wasn’t born. » A provocation which had earned him a flood of racist insults.

Nicolas Pépé then addressed the question of dual nationals and considered that “a player who chooses the French team then an African selection” must be put “aside, directly”. The case of Alban Lafont was notably mentioned. “He is Burkinabé, but he chose Ivory Coast,” noted Pépé. We’re teasing him about that, but it’s not a problem. It stops there. He is not Ivorian, but he has the passport. »

Furious following these comments, the Ivorian Federation decided to exclude the striker from the selection for CAN 2025. “It is not a sporting sanction,” assured the Ivorian coach Émerse Faé. If we stuck to the sporting aspect, he would obviously be with us. He was in the performance box, afterward, to make a list, you have to take into account a lot of elements, whether on or off the field. »

“To do it again, I would have done it again without hesitation”

This Wednesday, on the YouTube channel of journalist Malick Traoré, Nicolas Pépé returned to this eviction, fully taking responsibility for the video shot with Just Riadh. “Before the video came out, I asked to see the footage to see if it suited me and when I saw everything, I gave my approval,” he said. I have no regrets because it’s my person, it was 100% me. That’s what I felt and that’s what I wanted to share with people. To do it again, I would have done it again without hesitation. But sometimes there are consequences. »

The winger who played for Arsenal and Nice also assures that she has not created any conflict with Alban Lafont. “For me, it was minimal but for others, it was a point of no return,” he regretted. With Alban, we laughed about it, it wasn’t even mean. Many see it like that but not all. Even before it took significant proportions, I had sent him a message and he knows me, he knows it was a joke. There is nothing between him and me. »

The sequence on Morocco went less well. “The day the video came out, my sister told me that I was receiving racist insults on the Internet,” said the Ivory Coast international. I said to myself: tomorrow it’s over. I was looked at and saw a lot of stuff with monkeys and such. I told myself that I had tickled them and that they responded in their own way. But it lasted, it took on extreme proportions. »

If he had apologized, Nicolas Pépé had a hard time with the treatment reserved for him. “I called the president of the Federation, I apologized to him because he was angry about the video. He spoke to me a bit like his son and he asked me to post a message on social networks to calm the Moroccans, which I did. I did it reluctantly because I was receiving insults and it was up to me to apologize. But my president asked me so I did it,” he stressed.

Without its dynamic winger, Côte d’Ivoire experienced a disappointing 2025 African Cup of Nations. Title holders, the Elephants lost in the quarter-finals against Egypt after an interesting group stage.