THE BEAUTIFUL GAME TARNISHED BUT NOT IN THE NAME OF FOOTBALL!

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A sad day for the beautiful game when Togo withdrew from the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament Saturday following a terror attack on the team bus that left the driver dead and at least two players injured.

A sad day for the beautiful game when Togo withdrew from the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament Saturday following a terror attack on the team bus that left the driver dead and at least two players injured. The team has pulled out of the Africa Cup of Nations after their team bus came under gunfire in Angola.

Manchester City and Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor’s said He and his team mates met the morning after the attack and decided that they wished to pull out of the tournament.

Their first game in the tournament had been scheduled to take place on Monday against Ghana, but they are now heading home to their families. The Togo bus came under machine gun fire shortly after entering Angola on Friday, and the attack was later claimed by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC)

who have threatened further attacks during the tournament. 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.

The driver of the team bus was the only reported fatality on the day of the attack although goalkeeper Kossi Agassa has said that there had been three fatalities, with a Togo assistant coach and a spokesperson also perishing. Togo’s Hubert Velud described the attack as ’an act of barbarism’ in an interview with a French Radio station. Velud was injured in the arm and said the army ’saved our lives’. Togo, and Grenoble midfielder Alaixys Romao told French reporters that the Togo players were already at the airport waiting to return home. ’We’re waiting for the plane to return to Lome, Roma said. ’We’re also talking to the other teams in our group to try to convince them to boycott the competition too.’ Kris Irwin, ESF Correspondent.

Published 13/01/2010 | Ref: ALAN IRWIN

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