Yaya out of Ivory Coast squad

The Elephants’ captain Yaya Toure is absent from the list due to injury, according to the coach, while Paris Saint Germain defender Serge Aurier did not give a positive response to his invitation, sources close to the football association said.
Aurier has been critical of the football body and the local authorities following the embezzlement of close to $800,000 from bonuses meant for the Ivorian team that won the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
Newcastle’s Cheick Tioté was also dropped following a decline in form from an injury he sustained during the 2015 Afcon.
The likes of Salomon Kalou, Gervinho, Bony Wilfried, Siaka Tiéné and Serey Dié figure on the roster alongside two new arrivals from the domestic league, D’Avila Ba Loua of Asec Mimosas and Bayo Vakoum Issouf of Stade d’Abidjan.
There is nothing visibly at stake because Gabon have qualified for the finals after the central African nation won the right to host the tournament. Group I has been reduced to three teams, Ivory Coast, Sudan and Sierra Leone.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Mande Sayouba (Stabaek IF), Cissé Abdoul Karim (AS Kaloum), Sangaré Badra Ali (ASEC Mimosas)
Defenders : Siaka Tiéné (Montpellier), Diarrassouba Ousmane Viera (Caykur Rizesport), Franck Kessié (Atalanta), Mansou Kouakou (Smouha SC), Eric Bertrand Bailly (Villarreal), Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro (Toulouse), Simon Deli (Slavia Prague)
Midfielders: Christian Kouamé Koffi (TP Mazembe), Ismaël Diomandé (Saint-Etienne), Geoffroy Serey Dié (Stuttgart), Cheick Doukouré (Metz)
Forwards: Gervinho (AS Roma), Salomon Kalou (Hertha Berlin), Cyriac Gohi Bi (Anderlecht), Seydou Doumbia (AS Roma), Wilfried Bony (Manchester City), Roger Assale (TP Mazembe), Max-Alain Gradel (Saint-Etienne), Ba Loua Adriel D’Avila (ASEC Mimosas), Bayo Vakoun Issouf (Stade d’Abidjan)