Togo confirms withdrawal from Africa Cup of Nations

LUANDA - Togo will not play in the Africa Cup of Nations following the terrorist attack on the team bus that resulted in at least two confirmed fatalities, Togo government spokesperson Pascal Bodjona confirmed Saturday.

Bodjona, who is also the Minister of State for Territorial Administration, Decentralisation, and Local Collectivities, stated that the government has instead decided to call the team back from Angola after Friday’s attack.

“We can’t take part in the tournament under these circumstances. We could not continue the African Nations Cup in this dramatic situation. The players are in a state of shock,” said Bodjona.

Although there was some confusion on the death toll from Friday’s attack during which the Togolese team bus came under machine gun fire shortly after entering Cabinda province from the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is believed that at least three people were killed.

The attack left the bus driver, as well as the assistant coach and the team’s communications officer dead, with one of the goalkeepers in the squad believed to be in a critical condition.

Fraser Lamont of the International SOS Med-Rescue confirmed that some of the injured had been airlifted to the Milpark Hospital in the South African city of Johannesburg for treatment.

“Unfortunately I can confirm that one of those airlifted has since died, while another is in critical condition,” he said.

There is some confusion whether the person who died whom Lamont is referring to is one of the three known to have died earlier, or whether it is one of the players who was injured in the attack.

Even journalists in Angola have found information difficult to come by, with Swiss football journalist Silvano Speranza saying that conditions in the country were very difficult.

“Communications are not easy at the moment and nobody really knows what is going on.

“Media are speaking to the players directly and they are saying many different things, so as many different versions are being put out, it become more difficult to see what is happening,” he said.

A separatist movement, the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Defender Serge Akakpo, who plays for Romanian club Vaslui, was hit twice by bullets while reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale of French club GSI Pontivy, was also wounded.

FLEC, which has threatened further attacks during the tournament, has been involved in a long-running struggle for independence for the Cabinda region, which is separated from the rest of Angola by the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A 2006 peace agreement between the two sides sought to bring a formal end to the armed conflict there but sporadic attacks on government forces and expatriate workers have continued.

The region is rich in oil reserves.

Togo coach coach Hubert Velud described the attack as “an act of barbarism” in an interview with French radio station RMC.

“We came here to celebrate African football,” he said.

Grenoble midfielder Alaixys Romao told French newspaper L’Equipe that the Togo players were already at the airport waiting to return home.

“We’re waiting for the plane to return to Lome,” Romao said. “We’re also talking to the other teams in our group to try to convince them to boycott the competition too.”

Velud himself was injured in the arm and said the army “saved our lives”.

The team has been drawn into the so-called Group of Death with Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, and is due to play its first match against Ghana Monday. The tournament kicks off Sunday when hosts Angola face Mali.

Meanwhile, Hull City manager Phil Brown has called on his players participating at the tournament to return home in the wake of the terrorist attack.

“I am appalled. This throws a question mark against next summer’s World Cup. You simply cannot put the safety of players, officials and fans at the slightest risk,” Brown told The Sun newspaper Saturday.

“That is totally unacceptable. I have two players - Daniel Cousin and Seyi Olofinjana - on duty and I want them back home here with us as quickly as possible.”

Cousin plays for Gabon while Olofinjana is a midfielder for Nigeria.