Togo government tells team to quit Cup of Nations

by stejeb | January 9, 2010 at 07:56 pm

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Following the attack yesterday on the Togo team coach, they have been pulled out of the Africa Cup Of Nations.

Organisers have said that the rest of the games will go on as scheduled. Although nobody wants to see terrorism bringing sporting or public events to a standstill, any further attacks will increase the likelyhood of the tournament being abandoned. We saw in March last year the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore bring an end to international cricket in Pakistan for the time being.

With the world cup tournament due to begin in South Africa later in the year the footballing world will be watching events in Africa closely following this latest blow to international peace and cooperation.

Togo's footballers are being recalled from the Africa Cup of Nations by their government following a deadly attack on the team's bus in Angola.

An assistant coach, press officer and driver were killed. Two players were shot and injured in Friday's attack.

The Angolan government and tournament officials had been pressing Togo to stay for their group games in Cabinda.

Togo government minister Pascal Bodjona said the team was coming home because the players were in a state of shock.

He added: "We cannot in such a dramatic circumstance continue in the Africa Cup of Nations."

Togo were due to play Ghana in their opening match on Monday. Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso are the other teams in Group B.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) said late on Satuday that it understood Togo's decision but that the six other matches scheduled to be played in Cabinda would go ahead as planned.