Official reception ceremony for the national football team, winners of the 34th African Cup of Nations.

Dear Elephants,
You have brought happiness to all Ivorians. Bravo, bravo, bravo to you!
It’s true that on 8 January this year, as I exchanged greetings with the Diplomatic Corps, I said, referring to the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations, that “never two without three”. You heard me and you achieved it. Bravo again to you, dear children!
Yes! Côte d’Ivoire is the African champion! And it’s all thanks to you, my dear sons!
So it is with great joy that I meet you again this morning to celebrate our third African Nations Football Championship title.
Thank you for this wonderful victory and for the great joy you have given us.
I am truly proud of you, dear Elephants.
You deserve the gratitude of the entire nation, whose full support and prayers you have received.
Indeed, I sensed how hurt you were after the defeat by Equatorial Guinea. But I was convinced that it was just a bump in the road. I knew you’d bounce back. And you did!
You showed commitment, determination, resilience and solidarity.

You did everything you could to overcome all the obstacles on the way to winning this
title.
Your hard work, your resilience, your determination and the support of our fellow citizens brought us victory.
Yes, you too “created something”! You have created a spark of patriotism, pride and cohesion. You have succeeded in uniting Ivorians into a single people; in ensuring that, above all else, we are Ivorians first. Thank you very much.

I congratulate you and your coaching staff on having brilliantly won this “third star” after those won in Senegal in 1992 and Equatorial Guinea in 2015.
I would particularly like to congratulate my younger brother, President Idriss DIALLO, and all his colleagues at the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football on this exceptional achievement by our Elephants.
I have a special thought today for my nephew, the late President Sidy DIALLO, who contributed so much to the development of Ivorian football. I would also like to thank all the former Presidents of the Federation for their contribution.
Dear Idriss, thank you for mentoring our young players and reacting swiftly to the challenges facing our team. Thank you for passing on my messages of encouragement to my sons.
We’ve learned a fundamental lesson, one that I’ve been trying to build for 13 years now, and that is that we have to trust each other.
Well done to Emerse FAE, Guy DEMEL and Alain GOUAMENE for taking up the challenge. Thank you for answering our call and congratulations on getting the team back together.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Compatriots,
I would now like to congratulate the prime architect of this victory, Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé, for the successful organisation of CAN 2023.
I would also like to congratulate my brother François AMICHIA, President of COCAN, as well as all his colleagues and all the technical teams who worked so hard to meet the major technical and logistical challenges.

I salute the exceptional and extraordinary mobilisation as well as the cohesion and patriotism of our people who have never stopped believing in the victory of our national team.
I would also like to make a special mention of the Ivorian fans and people, who have distinguished themselves in such a wonderful way by their sense of solidarity, fraternity and warm welcome. This CAN was truly the CAN of hospitality.
Finally, I would like to salute and congratulate our security forces, who have done a remarkable job in supervising the event. I congratulate them for their professionalism, for the quality of their work and the security of the process, for their patience and courtesy.

You have risen to the occasion and succeeded in organising, to everyone’s satisfaction
a secure CAN.
I am not forgetting our journalist friends who worked day and night to ensure optimum coverage of this competition.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Compatriots,
This African Cup of Nations has truly enabled us to strengthen and consolidate our unity around what we hold most dear, ” Côte d’Ivoire “.

Long live Côte d’Ivoire! We are proud to be Ivorians!
I invite all our compatriots to continue to consolidate these values of peace, unity and discipline that have been observed over these four weeks.
In conclusion, I would like to express the wish of every Ivorian that the spirit that has animated us throughout this Cup of Nations will continue to do so.

May Côte d’Ivoire continue to enjoy peace and security, and may Ivorians continue to be more united.

And above all, we are Ivorians first and foremost.
Long live Côte d’Ivoire!
Long live the Elephants!

Thank you very much.