Ivory Coast's military leader has denounced the national soccer team for playing badly and threatened them with military service if they play badly again.

The Ivorian national team were held for three days in a military camp after being eliminated in the first round of the African Cup of Nations, before being taken to Abidjan on Thursday night for a dressing down from General Robert Guei.

"I asked that you be taken there so you could reflect a while. You behaved unworthily. You should have avoided us such shame," General Guei was quoted as saying by the Fraternite Matin newspaper.

The players, many on lucrative contracts with European clubs, were shown on state-controlled Ivorian television being forced to conduct military marches and receive lectures on discipline during their detention.

"Next time you will stay there for military service. You will be sent to the barracks until a sense of civic pride gets into your heads," the general said..

General Guei, who came to power in a coup on Christmas Eve, said the country's sacrifice in giving the Elephants, as the team is called, thousands of dollars had been wasted.

Expatriate players

The BBC correspondent in Abidjan says the bizarre case of an incarcerated national football team reveals how seriously the sport is sometimes taken in Africa.

The Ivory Coast squad is made up mainly of players based in Europe who return home to represent their country during international fixtures.

These expatriate Ivorians, like many other African football stars who have sought to earn a good living abroad, are treated at home with a mixture of hero-worship and jealousy.

Our correspondent says some of the players looked tired and angry when they were released from the military camp.

They are now expected to return to their various European clubs in the next few days but after their experience, many of them may now think twice before returning home to play for their country.

A player for the French club, Marseille, said he could not wait to return to France.

Damage to African football

Football clubs in Europe have expressed concern over the fate of their players and the President of the International Football Federation (Fifa), Sepp Blatter, contacted Ivory Coast's military authorities to try to find out about the players.

"Detaining a team because it failed to qualify for the next round of a football competition is a blatant violation of the autonomy of the football association as well as the fair play principle," Mr Blatter said in a statement.

Ivory Coast were eliminated from the tournament after three first round matches.

They beat Ghana by a respectable 2-0, but only managed a draw against the much smaller state of Togo and were then thrashed 3-0 by Cameroon, one of the best teams on the continent.