That Togo's Team was machine-gunned is no longer news.
That they were mourning is nit news either!
That they were the only team that travelle by road, against the advice of the ANC local organising Committee's advise is also not news.

Questions still unanswered are that:

Who gave permission and arraigned for them to travel by road?
Was money not provided for flight of the team members?
If Money was provided, what there an attempt to substitute "Flight Ticket" for "Bus Ticket"?

Should people in the Togolese F.A. and Sport's Ministry not be held responsible for the death of those who died and charged for manslaughter, at least?

Now, in the heat of the moment, the Minister ORDERED the team back home, despite all pleadings.
After they were home already, there was a change of mind this morning, to COME BACK!

NOW, CAF said please STAY AWAY, WE DONT WANT YOU ANYMORE

This is despite the fact that none of the other teams that will play TOGO ar against their coming back!

Is this muscle-flexing by CAF right?
Should TOGO not be allowed back?
What lessons do we learn from these?

What do you think

I think

CAF was right in allowing the Tournament to continue
TOGO is right in mourning the deceased; and also returning home

What i read is that TOGO has now requested for 3 days of mourning and permission to be allowed back to continue in the tournament

The problem with this is that they never stated this intent clearly.

The initial reactions of the Prime Minister was to declare:

We understand the approach of [the] players who wanted to express a way to avenge their fallen comrades, but it would be irresponsible on the part of the authorities to let them continue,

"The team must return today [Sunday]. The government's decision is unchanged.

"It is a conscious decision since Friday. If a team or a person present themselves under the banner of Togo, it would be a false representation.

"It is left to you [the other countries] to decide to stay in a competition synonymous of fraternity, brotherhood, friendship and solidarity.

"And in case you decide to leave the competition, we will definitely understand your decision and it will be accepted


If they had requested for some days to mourn initially, CAF would have made arrangements for them to still participate. Simple!

Recent reports have that the Prime Minister is now really furious!
It was the F.A Secretary that said that CAF should re-arrange their match for them after the 3days mourning but suprisingly, CAF came out smoking and said a capital NO WAY

I guess that infuriated the Prime Minister and you know, in Africa, big-man, big-ego

The P.M now said "they never requested to be re-instated back in the tournament"!

So, on one hand, we have mourning players who wants to play, at least for the memory of their dead colleagues.
On the other hand, we have this "fat cat" Minister, who thinks it is an insult (and l may agree with him) to be rebuffed the way CAF did! No one expects them to "beg" 2be re-instated, right?

The third leg of the katakata is the CAF itself who thinks that Togo, though suffering from the ambush, are the architect of their own undoing and actually brought disgrace to the competition by making themselves prey to the ambush, and then going home after all the pleading to remain!


Its sad sha but l would love them to be re-instated without much humiliation, after all they've gone through (self inflicted).

Some said the "hammer" will eventually fall on the head of the Sports Minister who may have sanctioned the road-safari if they dont participate at all, not the P.M that is making all the noise right now.

^^^ Hmm, I'm very sure we've not heard the last of it all

I think CAF is irresponsible and callous, the tournament should have being postpone to show that really care about life. How do they want Togo players to concentrate with playing football in such environment. Even Drogba who is not one of Togo players said he was shattered due to the shoot out.
And no any form of condolence or security assurance from CAF before the Togo PM decide that his team should pull out.
What are we going to say if the same things had happen to super eagles. Or if it happen to America or England team during the World Cup, do we think Fifa will still expect them to play a match in the 3rd day of incident or continue to blame innocent soul for traveling by road instead of flight when a hosting nation can not provide adequate security.

Why is no any Under-17 match play in Warri during the tournament in Nigeria? Why do Nigeria government make sure that MEND and some Niger delta militant were disarm before the under-17 world cup?

Poor CAF, Poor Angola

Is like we do no longer value gift of life in Africa.

Its totally unfair of CAF.

I love football, but I think all teams of participating nations should boycott this particular tournament in Angola, wot happen to 'x' might happen to 'y 'tomorrow

Just heard on BBC interview with one of the players, He sai Adebayo had a meeting (as captain) with all the other players and they discussed whether they should play or not. The player said they all agreed to play, to honor the memory of their departed colleagues.

So, Players want and feel they can play BUT BUREAUCRACY DOES NOT SEEM TO THINK SO?

And l think CAF is making matters worse by its combative posture.
You dont rub salt into a nations injuries, do you?

Seems from these interview, the players are really ready to play and the sports Minister wants them to.

[url=http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_5851975,00.html][url]http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_5851975,00.html[/url][/url]

Must have been very painful for the Togolese players.

Oh well, The prime minister is to be blamed really!

The decision to leave was a bit hasty i.m.o

But l am wondering: Why did CAF not even sympathize with them first, for the loss of human lives and then later blame them for not following travel instructions.
The Togolese PM actually said they did not receive any "condolence message" from CAF up till now!

Caf just portrayed the real face of Africa's Corrupt leadership.

Issa Hayatou, i wonder if this were Cameroon players if he would have been mum on it too.

Togo has the right to play if they want to.

Even if they had travelled on foot, it was the fault of the Angolan organisers, they could have warned them about their rebels. Why organise a tourney near rebel's zone sef Those cabinda rebels better hold their side oh

Everything Southern Africa is trouble.

i just pray those Xenophobic people do not disgrace us during the world cup

if they could arrest two people so quickly after the attack, then why couldnt they have provided better security beforehand?

and why schedule matches in a war zone?

Africans need to get their act together.

and what's the exact reason why these rebels fired on the Togolese players?

Assuming Togo declared 100 days of national mourning,if CAF got in touch with the Togolese
people,FA,President etc and conveyed their heartfelt sympathy,the togolese presido
would have allowed the players to participate in honor of the fallen sportsmen.

Even FIFA sent their condonlence.CAF was simply unsympathetic.

Poor leadership at its worst.

Adebayor should be singled out and blamed.He irked the prime minister with bitter comments.Adebayor is the main culprit
STUPID BOY

^^^ What did Adebayor say

hollandis:

Adebayor should be singled out and blamed.He irked the prime minister with bitter comments.Adebayor is the main culprit
silly BOY

are you alright?

Adebayor told BBC Radio Five Live: "I think a lot of players want to leave, I don't think they want to be at this tournament any more because they have seen their death already.

"Most of the players want to go back to their family. No-one can sleep after what they have seen. They have seen one of their team-mates have a bullet in his body, who is crying, who is losing consciousness and everything.

"So we will have a good meeting, everyone will go to their room, they will rest and we will see. [On Saturday morning] we will make a decision which is good for our life."

Adebayor added: "We are still in shock. If the security is not sure then we will be leaving. I don't think they will be ready to give their life. We will discuss everything as a team and we will take a decision that we think is good for our career, is good for our life and good for our family."

Nothing wrong in his speech i.m.o

if people are going to trivialize this whole incident then maybe the tournament should be cancelled.

Shame on CAF. They have no value for human lives

tpia.:

are you alright?

If i start with you ehnnnnnnnnnnnnn

GTay:

Adebayor told BBC Radio Five Live: "I think a lot of players want to leave, I don't think they want to be at this tournament any more because they have seen their death already.

"Most of the players want to go back to their family. No-one can sleep after what they have seen. They have seen one of their team-mates have a bullet in his body, who is crying, who is losing consciousness and everything.

"So we will have a good meeting, everyone will go to their room, they will rest and we will see. [On Saturday morning] we will make a decision which is good for our life."

Adebayor added: "We are still in shock. If the security is not sure then we will be leaving. I don't think they will be ready to give their life. We will discuss everything as a team and we will take a decision that we think is good for our career, is good for our life and good for our family."

Nothing wrong in his speech i.m.o

During the olympics in the 70's,1973 or so,Isreali team was massacred by terrorist,Did it stop the games?.NO.The organisers felt that boycotting or total cancellation meant a victory for the terrorist.Adebayor suggested to the whole world that there was an attack against them and preferred ivory ,burkinabe and ghana to boycott too.The PM who himself is not much of a football fan,only acted on the words of Adebayor that they wanted to return home.

hollandis:

If i start with you ehnnnnnnnnnnnnn
During the olympics in the 70's,1973 or so,Isreali team was massacred by terrorist,Did it stop the games?.NO.The organisers felt that boycotting or total cancellation meant a victory for the terrorist.Adebayor suggested to the whole world that there was an attack against them and preferred ivory ,burkinabe and ghana to boycott too.The PM who himself is not much of a football fan,only acted on the words of Adebayor that they wanted to return home.

look- the team was attacked by terrorist groups and some of them were wounded while others died in the unprovoked attack.

Why shouldnt they want to return home after being subjected to such trauma? If they decide to go or stay, its not for you to question their decision, since you did not experience what they did. You are sitting comfortably in your armchair.





Here's info on the Olympic terror attacks since you hate google:


In the wake of the hostage-taking, competition was suspended for the first time in modern Olympic history. On September 6, a memorial service attended by 80,000 spectators and 3,000 athletes was held in the Olympic Stadium. IOC President Avery Brundage made little reference to the murdered athletes during a speech praising the strength of the Olympic movement and equating the attack on the Israeli sportsmen with the recent arguments about encroaching professionalism and disallowing Rhodesia's participation in the Games, which outraged many listeners. The victims' families were represented by Andre Spitzer's widow Ankie, Moshe Weinberg's mother, and a cousin of Weinberg's, Carmel Eliash. During the memorial service, Eliash collapsed and died of a heart attack.

Many of the 80,000 people who filled the Olympic Stadium for West Germany's football match with Hungary carried noisemakers and waved flags, but when several spectators unfurled a banner reading “17 dead, already forgotten?” security officers removed the sign and expelled the offenders from the grounds.During the memorial service, the Olympic Flag was flown at half-staff, along with the flags of most of the other competing nations at the request of Willy Brandt. Ten Arab nations objected to their flags being lowered to honor murdered Israelis; their flags were restored to the tops of their flagpoles almost immediately.

Willi Daume, president of the Munich organizing committee, initially sought to cancel the remainder of the Games, but in the afternoon Brundage and others who wished to continue the Games prevailed, stating that they could not let the incident halt the games. Brundage stated "The games must go on, and we must,  and we must continue our efforts to keep them clean, pure and honest." The decision was endorsed by the Israeli government and Israeli Olympic team chef de mission Shmuel Lalkin.

On September 6, after the memorial service, the remaining members of the Israeli team withdrew from the Games and left Munich. All Jewish sportsmen were placed under guard. Mark Spitz, the American swimming star who had already completed his competitions, left Munich during the hostage crisis (it was feared that as a prominent Jew, Spitz might now be a kidnapping target). The Egyptian team left the Games on 7 September, stating they feared reprisals. The Philippine and Algerian teams also left the Games, as did some members of the Dutch and Norwegian teams. American marathon runner Kenny Moore, who wrote about the incident for Sports Illustrated, quoted Dutch distance runner Jos Hermens as saying, “You give a party, and someone is killed at the party, you don’t continue the party. I'm going home.” Many athletes, dazed by the tragedy, similarly felt that their desire to compete had been destroyed, although they stayed at the Games.

The families of some victims have asked the IOC to establish a permanent memorial to the athletes. The IOC has declined, saying that to introduce a specific reference to the victims could "alienate other members of the Olympic community," according to the BBC. Alex Gilady, an Israeli IOC official, told the BBC: "We must consider what this could do to other members of the delegations that are hostile to Israel."

There is, however, a memorial outside the Olympic stadium in Munich in the form of a stone tablet at the bridge linking the stadium to the former Olympic village. There is also a memorial tablet to the slain Israelis outside the front door of their former lodging at 31 Connollystraße. On 15 October 1999 (almost a year before the Sydney 2000 Games), a memorial plaque was unveiled in one of the large light towers (Tower 14) outside the Sydney Olympic Stadium, and remains there today


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