Afcon potentially cancelled after attack on Togo team

[Stefan]

Absolutely horrible. WTF was the security??

Gunmen wound four in attack on African football stars

8 January 2010

A street vendor (L) sells the Angola´s flag and gadgets of Angola national football team in Luanda, three days before the 2010 African football Cup of Nations opening ceremony. Gunmen shot at a bus carrying Togo´s football squad to the African Nations Cup in Angola on Friday, wounding two players and two others and prompting a call for the tournament to be called off.

LUANDA (AFP) - Gunmen shot at a bus carrying Togo's football squad to the African Nations Cup in Angola on Friday, wounding at least two players and two others and prompting a call for the tournament to be called off.
One player said he believed the driver of one of the buses in the team convoy was shot dead when bullets were sprayed at the vehicles as they crossed into the troubled Angolan province of Cabinda from Congo-Brazzaville.
Many dived under the seats on the bus when the gunfire started, they told reporters.
Two players, goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale and defender Serge Akakpo were among the wounded, said another squad member Thomas Dossevi.
"One of them (Akakpo) took a bullet in the back and the other (Obilale) was hit in the kidneys," Dossevi told AFP.
Obilale plays at French fifth division side GSI Pontivy while Akakpo plays with Romanian outfit Vaslui.
The other two wounded were the team's goalkeeping coach and doctor.
All were being treated in a hospital in the provincial capital, Cabinda.
Another team member, Richmond Forson, said he believed the driver one of the buses in the Togo convoy had been killed but that none of the players lives were in danger.
The gunfire broke out as they were pulling away from the border crossing, players said.
Forson, who plays with French fourth division side Thouars, told the French sports channel Infosport that a bus carrying the team's baggage took the worst of the gunfire.
"It was the baggage bus which went in front of us which took the bullets because they thought we were in there," Forson said.
"They shot the driver of this bus and I think he did not come through, the windscreen was smashed," the player added.
Alaixys Romao, who plays for the French top flight side Grenoble, said the team was in shock and did not want to take part in the tournament which is due to begin on Sunday.
"We've got players wounded, members of staff, and we're all just waiting for news," he told Infosport.
"If it is possible, there should be a boycott of the tournament. Why not cancel all the matches. We just want to go back home."
Togo, one of Africa's top sides and who appeared in the last World Cup in Germany, are scheduled to get their campaign underway against Ghana on Monday.
They are captained by English-based star striker Emmanuel Adebayor whose club Manchester City said in a statement that he had not been injured.
The other teams in their group include Burkina Faso and the star-studded Ivory Coast whose squad includes Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure.
Contacted by AFP in Angola, organisers of the event said the team bus had simply burst a tyre, causing panic among those inside. After a second inquiry, organisers said they had no knowledge of the incident.
Oil-rich Cabinda has been embroiled in a long-running independence struggle but will host the seven Nations Cup matches this month.
The conflict officially ended in a 2006 deal with the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC).
FLEC however has made several media claims in recent months about attacks on the military and foreign construction and oil workers based in the province.
Angola as a whole is only just emerging from a 27-year civil war which erupted shortly after it received independence from Portugal and finally ended in 2002.

http://www.soccerway.com/news/2010/January/08/gunmen-wound-four-in-attack-on-african-football-stars/

 

[Omar]

horrible news man ... is it really over? the competition is over??

 

[Stefan]

horrible news man ... is it really over? the competition is over??

They are holding a crisis meeting. They may move the games away from that area. I doudt Togo will continue and I have my doudts whether the other teams would be willing to continue if Togo pulls out.

 

[Omar]

wtf were the security!!

 

[Suneet]

Its stupidity, stopping the tournament wont affect the attackers a little bit. Maybe they should just postpone it. I cant see Togo continuing.

 

[Xoonky]

You can't blame the security, this was probably an all-out war.
That means, there probably were at least 20 gunmen shooting from all kinds in a position they decided well and prepared themselves, while the security must have been no more than 2-3 men just for the sake of it, most of them unprepared and not even knowing where the shooting is coming from.
You can't expect them to become a Rambo or a Hitman.

 

[F U C K MILAN]

it is an absolute disgrace that something like this should happen,... i am strongly with canceling the tournament this year, as it sends out a clear message if not for the gunmen and everybody that such behavior is absolutely intolerable, i mean a bit of luck spared us a tragedy as this could have been much worse with many players and staff dead instead of wounded which is really bad enough as it is

 

[Xoonky]

Still, canceling the tournament is why these gunmen did all this shit for at the first place, that's what they want, it wouldn't be sending them a warning that it shouldn't happen, it'd rather be a congratulations for them, they win.

 

[Stefan]

You can't blame the security, this was probably an all-out war.
That means, there probably were at least 20 gunmen shooting from all kinds in a position they decided well and prepared themselves, while the security must have been no more than 2-3 men just for the sake of it, most of them unprepared and not even knowing where the shooting is coming from.
You can't expect them to become a Rambo or a Hitman.

Sorry but this is an area know for trouble you can't just have 2-3 security guys like they did here. They needed to provide the teams with an armored escort which they didn't.

Anyway tournament goes ahead.

CAF Confirm That African Cup Of Nations 2010 Will Go Ahead

The tournament will not be cancelled, says Africa's governing body...

Jan 8, 2010 9:12:55 PM

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Speaking to the AFP, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed that the African Cup of Nations 2010 will go ahead despite the shooting of the Togo national team's bus in Cabinda, Angola.

Communications director Souleymane Habuba said, "Our great concern is for the players, but the championship goes ahead."

Meanwhile the CAF vice-president has traveled to the breakaway region of Cabinda on a fact-finding mission.

"We need to know all the facts, we haven't got them all yet. We can't give a full reaction from reports that we have got from the media," said Habuba.

Togo are the only team to have traveled into Cabinda by road. This fact has moved CAF to question the Sparrow Hawks.

"CAF's regulations are clear, teams are required to fly rather than travel by bus," added the director.

Steve Michaels, Goal.com

http://www.goal.com/en/news/815/afr...hat-african-cup-of-nations-2010-will-go-ahead

 

[Xoonky]

Tournament goes ahead, but Cogo pull out.

 

[Stefan]

Tournament goes ahead, but Cogo pull out.

Congo??? Togo pulled out.

 

[Xoonky]

Congo??? Togo pulled out.

Lol, i confused the two into one.
I meant Togo, but got confused cause i read their bus' destination was Congo.

 

[Suneet]

So how will they play with one less team?? We should call Eto'o back.

 

[vasilios]

Now there's reports saying Togo will participate after all. Interesting.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Top...to_compete_in_African_Nations_Cup_415847.html

 

[Stefan]

Absolutely disgusting decision by CAF. How the hell can you disqualify a team who has been shot at??

'CAF decision ridiculous'

Cabinda - Togo have been officially disqualified from the African Nations Cup after the squad flew home on Sunday following the deadly gun attack on their bus in Cabinda two days earlier.

“They are disqualified. This group (B) is a three-team tournament,” Confederation of African Football (CAF) co-ordinator Yaouba Amoa told reporters on Monday.

Togo’s assistant coach and media officer were killed and reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale seriously wounded by separatists from the enclave of Cabinda in Friday’s attack.

Monday’s Group B match between Togo and Ghana had been scheduled as the second part of a doubleheader. Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast shared a 0-0 draw in the first game at the new Chazi Stadium in Cabinda.

Togo midfielder Thomas Dossevi described the CAF decision as “ridiculous”.

“It would have been simple for us to come back and play on January 21, I think Ghana would have agreed to that,” he told Reuters by telephone.

“It is a serious and ridiculous decision. Everybody wanted us to be here and play the African Nations Cup.”

Togo left Angola on a chartered flight sent to collect them after the attack but had expressed the hope they might be able to return and compete at the tournament.

Several players spoke of their willingness to play on but they were ordered home by Togo’s government.

The CAF official said it would be impossible to change the tournament schedule.