Alhaji Righteous De Ambitious: World Cup 2010 Blog: Togo To Compete in African Cup of Nations

Sunday, January 10, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: Togo To Compete in African Cup of Nations

Togo To Compete in African Cup of Nations

Posted: 09 Jan 2010 07:08 PM PST

It has been a day of conflicting news and uncertainty following yesterday’s deadly attack on the team bus of the Togolese national team.

With players and other staff members of the Togolese national team, officials of the Togolese FA and government, officials of the Angolan FA and government, CAF, FIFA, Sepp Blatter and a range of European clubs all releasing statements and bits and pieces of sometimes contradictory information, it’s difficult to give a definitive picture of the current situation.

What seems to have been confirmed is the sad news that the Angolan bus driver, the team’s spokesman Stanislas Ocloo and assistant coach Amalete Abalo died in the gun fire.

Another nine people were injured – two players, an assistant manager, physio, goalkeeping coach and another coach.

Defender Serge Akakpo, who plays for Romanian club Vaslui, was hit by two bullets and lost a lot of blood (…) His club reported that his condition was stabilised and he underwent successful surgery. Reserve keeper Obilale, who plays for French club GSI Pontivy, was also seriously wounded and transferred to hospital in South Africa, while several other players required treatment.

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the rebel Liberation Front of Cabinda (FLEC). FLEC has been fighting for the independence of the oil rich province and threatened to carry out further attacks.

For most of the day it was reported that Togo would pull out of the tournament, after the Togolese government told the team to come home, coinciding with news that Emmanuel Adebayor had already left the country and Moustapha Salifou stating that “We all want to go home to Togo”.

This decision was eventually reversed following a team meeting, as Togo’s Thomas Dossevi told AFP.

“In memory of the dead, the national team has decided to play in the African Nations Cup. We are all heartbroken, it is no longer a party, but we want to show our national colours, our values and that we are men. It was a decision taken nearly unanimously by the team which met during the night after having been reassured by the Angolan authorities. [The team is] a bit bitter, we are a little disappointed with the Confederation of African Football (CAF)…which couldn’t arrange for a postponement of our first match so we could bury our dead. CAF puts its interests first and not those of the countries. They did not support us enough.”

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has meanwhile announced that the games of Group B scheduled to be played in Cabinda will go ahead as planned.

In short: the tournament won’t be delayed or even cancelled. Group B matches will be played in Cabinda. Togo will take part in the tournament.

I for one will leave you with this rough and incomplete update of the recent tragic events. This may be a blog and blogs strive on opinions, but I can’t offer you anything except for my contempt for the violence and death caused by the rebels. I also accept the decision by the Togolese team to play for their dead team members. But anything beyond that would only end like this:

Apart from the situation in Angola, there has also been some rather predictable backlash elsewhere, e.g. with Hull City’s Phil Brown voicing his concerns over the World Cup in South Africa. Fortunately, Hull City also employ Jimmy Bullard, who can give his manager an update on the Africa is a country or a continent question with his next goal celebration. For all the other Phil Browns in this world though, South Africa’s World Cup organiser Danny Jordaan issued a statement to the press.