@aieromon
You're talking about abiding to FIFA's rule. Did FIFA not mention anything about security? When people's life is at stake, FIFA's rule become meaningless. I have never heard of this incidence in Europe or World Cup. I know of an instance when a country was at war and they were to play for a cup qualifier. FIFA had to take the return leg to a neutral ground.
Angola and CAF are the biggest culprit in this. All Angola could do was to blame Togo's team for not travelling by air,

vislabraye:

@aieromon
You're talking about abiding to FIFA's rule. Did FIFA not mention anything about security? When people's life is at stake, FIFA's rule become meaningless. I have never heard of this incidence in Europe or World Cup. I know of an instance when a country was at war and they were to play for a cup qualifier. FIFA had to take the return leg to a neutral ground.
Angola and CAF are the biggest culprit in this. All Angola could do was to blame Togo's team for not travelling by air,

Angola messed up big time there

I feel that the whole fiasco was highly mismanaged by CAF, Togolese FA and the Togolese government. The Togolese team should have made their traveling arrangements in consultation with the Angolan FA, the decision to pull out of the tournament should have come from the Togolese FA and not the government, even if the order originated from the government. Also CAF should have been more supportive and understanding. Even at that this is not the first time a tragedy has struck before a major tournament (in fact most African countries has one conflict or the the other going on ,including Nigeria) and it does not necessarily have to involved the team involved withdrawing from the tournament, especially if the tragedy is not directly related to the competition.But the prerogative of Pulling out should lie with the players and relevant officials.  The Jews did not pull out of the Munich Olympic  Games due to terrorist attach on about a dozen of its athletes.

CAF is crazy and inhuman how can they expect Togo to play in the face of such tragic, did they even think of the psycho-trauma that these Togo players will be going through after facing a life and death situation(gun  battle).
The whole of West Africa countries should boycott CAF and start their own confederation. Isa Hayatou is mad, will he have done the same if it were Cameroun? Africa is sick if we can not protest this injustice.

How can Angola blame Togo for traveling by road when they provide the so called security for them? If they (Angola government) did not support their traveling by road.

I am tired of this continent called dark continent we are just backward in everything, we can not even manage this sensitive issue.

I sympathise with Togo on the tragedy that befell them in Angola. But remember, when Nigeria under Abacha failed to participate in South Africa '96, we were banned from participating in 1998 and 2000 edition. It was later revised and we participated in 2000.
As it is, Togo will appeal and the ban will be reduced.

well this case is a very simple one - the fact that Togo lost officials and because of that should be allowed to do whatever they so desire, is SENTIMENT and as we all know, where rule of law is concerned, sentiment has no place - in 2004 when Cameroun national team wore sleeveless shirts to play, FIFA warned them to stop wearing it as it contravenes the rule of the game - when they wore it again two years later, FIFA banned them - a rule is a rule - now the following points need to be noted

(a) CAF did not ban Togo because they left the competition
(b) They were banned because the government intervened
(b) The players WANTED to play but the government said NO
(d)If the decision to pull out was solely that of the players, CAF would have accepted it

It's obvious the government did not have the interest of the players at heart by asking them to pull out - asking the team to pull out was only a show of power -they claimed they could not guarantee the safety of the team but 14 teams remained in the tournament

woye77:

It's obvious the government did not have the interest of the players at heart by asking them to pull out - asking the team to pull out was only a show of power -they claimed they could not guarantee the safety of the team but 14 teams remained in the tournament

Look at your line of taught. It is totally wrong. Tell me, the ban: who does it affect, the players or the government? It is obvious that it is CAF not Togo government that does not have the interest of the players and soccer loving Togolese at heart. It is evident that CAF is the one who is showing power. There is no how a good government will not interference in a security threat that affect the life of its citizenry. Let them kill some of England or USA team in South Africa in like manner and watch what FIFA will do. Rules are made for man not man for rule. Did CAF even pay a condolence visit to the family of the demised soul? CAF is bullsh**t. Everything about CAF is archaic, visit their website, look at their head- to- head rule and how it affect Mali but not Cameroun that are defeated by Gabon. Poor CAF, Poor Africa.

I think there are extenuating circumstances that CAF should have considered. Yes, the govt interfered and said the players should come home, but at the point where a team is shot at and people are killed and seriously injured, it's not just a footballing issue, it's a national issue and I think the Togolese government had to act at that point because yes it's football, but they're ultimately Togolese nationals who have faced an incident in another country. I'm a by-the-book person but there's a time for rules and there's a time when busting out the rule book is really insensitive and I think this sentence is absolutely ridiculous. We all know what happened, I don't know why CAF feels the need to blindly bring out the rule book in this situation without really considering what exactly happened and why. It's not as if Togo frivolously went home to celebrate their president's birthday or something. CAF has not handled this incident well at all from the beginning.

CAF claimed to ban Togo based on government interference, however, a statement from CAF read: "The executive committee has banned Togo from the next two African Nations Cup and fined[b] the Togo FA 50,000 U.S. dollars[/b]."
The more I read the judgment the more my indignant escalate toward CAF for its archaic behavior.

Africans place little value on human life.

Issa Hayatou is an animal

Togo FA will appeal that draconian ban and fine.
Whatever happened to doing things on compassionate ground,I still feel CAF shoulda allowed the Togolese come back and continue with the tourney

Shame on you Issa Hayatou and the bunch of nincompoops you lead at CAF

While we can all get emotional at the decision, the underlying principle is sound else we end up on that slippery slope FIFA is instinctively programmed to detest and thus keen to avoid.

The decision to pull out the team was unilaterally taken by the Government, not open to negotiation or making of alternative arrangements.  An airplane was already in the air, the PM was on all the airwaves and the players had no choice but to conform.  If the team declared themselves overly traumatized and could not continue, CAF could have given them that bye but the process would have been a bilateral one between the Team and CAF.  What CAF/FIFA cannot allow is a Govt. setting things in stone for football teams.

Note, I am not saying Governments are not allowed to make overiding decisions for teams in their capacity as ultimate guarantors of security.  In fact, no one can stop them but the threat of sanction remains the best weapon against wholesale interference of the worst kind.  I can drive at 200km/h to escape from armed robbers but FRSC should be able to prosecute me when I do that.  Maybe the Judge will mitigate my sentence.

It is a simple principle I support wholeheartedly and that sanction is appropriate for the records. Having said all that, CAF could have made the same point with a suspended sentence and I hope the Togolese get a reduction on appeal, mitigating circumstances and all that.

The wider issue is why an opportunistic act of localized criminality is escalated by those who do not mean well for the Continent at the best of times into a grand act of "Terrorism" with all the emotional baggage. They would see the WC moved from South Africa if they had the chance.

Ban CAF

JNdupu:

While we can all get emotional at the decision, the underlying principle is sound else we end up on that slippery slope FIFA is instinctively programmed to detest and thus keen to avoid.

The decision to pull out the team was unilaterally taken by the Government, not open to negotiation or making of alternative arrangements. An airplane was already in the air, the PM was on all the airwaves and the players had no choice but to conform. If the team declared themselves overly traumatized and could not continue, CAF could have given them that bye but the process would have been a bilateral one between the Team and CAF. What CAF/FIFA cannot allow is a Govt. setting things in stone for football teams.

Note, I am not saying Governments are not allowed to make overiding decisions for teams in their capacity as ultimate guarantors of security. In fact, no one can stop them but the threat of sanction remains the best weapon against wholesale interference of the worst kind. I can drive at 200km/h to escape from armed robbers but FRSC should be able to prosecute me when I do that. Maybe the Judge will mitigate my sentence.

It is a simple principle I support wholeheartedly and that sanction is appropriate for the records. Having said all that, CAF could have made the same point with a suspended sentence and I hope the Togolese get a reduction on appeal, mitigating circumstances and all that.

The wider issue is why an opportunistic act of localized criminality is escalated by those who do not mean well for the Continent at the best of times into a grand act of "Terrorism" with all the emotional baggage. They would see the WC moved from South Africa if they had the chance.

you have spoken very wisely

ADEBAYOR SLAMS TOGO BAN http://www.kickoff.com/static/news/article.php?id=13667
Posted: 2010-01-31 20:16 by Colin Udoh

Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou should resign following the ‘monstrous’ decision to ban Togo from the next two African Nations Cups, captain Emmanuel Adebayor said yesterday.

Togo quit the tournament when their government recalled the team for three days of mourning, after two members of their delegation were killed in an attack by gunmen in the northern Angolan province of Cabinda on January 8.

CAF banned Togo and fined their soccer association R400 000 on Saturday because their government had interfered in football matters.

“Mr Hayatou did serve Africa but today he must clear off. This decision is monstrous,” Adebayor told French sports daily L’Equipe.“ He is irresponsible. I have the feeling we are not respected.”

Togo Sports Minister Christophe Tchao told Reuters by telephone on Saturday that they would appeal the CAF ban.

An assistant coach and a media officer with the Togo team died in the ambush as the team travelled from Pointe Noire, Congo to the Angolan capital by bus for their opening match.

“Two well respected personalities in African football died, our keeper took three bullets. We did not just wake up in the morning and decide to leave the competition,” Adebayor said.

“If [Cameroon keeper Idriss Carlos] Kameni was the one having been shot or if it was the Ivory Coast team bus that had been attacked, the Nations Cup would have been cancelled.”

The Manchester City striker said the attack, which lasted at least 20 minutes, was still fresh in his memory. “It is very difficult [to think of football]. Since the attack, I have been having nightmares every night,” he said.

@ topic
I doubt the bolded part. . . . .Adebayo dey talk trash at times. . . . . . . . .but still I maintain it was a bad decision by CAF.

Lol. . . . Peeps dey vex . Dem just dey attack Issa Hayatou right, left and centre but why be sey Hayatou dey always sleep during football matches? . I recall he slept through out the CAF Champions League match between Heartland and TP Mazembe too

HAYATOU MUST LEAVE CAF NOW          http://www.kickoff.com/static/features/article.php?id=13675
Posted: 2010-02-01 09:32 by Tiyani wa ka Mabasa               
CAF President Issa Hayatou was apparently good in basketball; so good he was a member of the Cameroon national basketball team for the first All Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo in 1965. And that’s where he should have remained.

I wrote this an angry man in the middle of the night after the Togolese national team was banned from the next two Africa Cup of Nations editions (2012 and 2014), and were fined a massive $50 000.

Their fault; their bus was attacked by a terrorist group called Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) and their government pulled the team out of the tournament. It was “government interference” that CAF took into consideration when banning Emmanuel Adebayor and company from the next two Afcons.

What kind of leader is this? That you get shot at and you get a ban and a massive fine.

Hayatou’s decisions always baffle the mind. There are exceptions to every rule and Togo is. People’s lives are more important that some rule book gathering dust somewhere.

A few days ago, he said he “did not want the Nations Cup to be played in the same year as the World Cup or the European Championship, but that the event would remain in January”.

The January issue has for some time been affecting lots of African players at European teams.

The fact is these players earn a fortune from these teams. In fact, from what they make from winning an Afcon is what some earn in a week at their European clubs.

Portsmouth coach Avram Grant was quoted saying before the Afcon that: “I don’t know why Fifa allow this. I don’t know why they have the African Cup of Nations in January. We pay a lot of money, especially the big teams, to players who are not with you for two months. I think Fifa need to think about this.”

Hayatou, in turn, says: “We will do things the African way; we won’t be pushed into changing the Afcon dates.”

Good leaders are not arrogant. Take the Togo decision and the Afcon dates issue ,  is Hayatou a good leader?

Anyway, he is remembered for having fallen asleep during a World Cup match in France 1998, which was picked up by television cameras.

If it is basketball you love Mr Hayatou, it is not too late to change. You are only 63 years old and Fifa President Sepp Blatter is 73, therefore you still have a decade or more to make your mark in Basketball administration.

Lol. . . . Peeps dey vex . Dem just dey attack Issa Hayatou right, left and centre but why be sey Hayatou dey always sleep during football matches? . I recall he slept through out the CAF Champions League match between Heartland and TP Mazembe too

He deserve all the bashing, i hope many more will bash him more on media. Their confussed decision in Zambia-Cameroon group tie, was another sign of ignarance in football decision making.

princekevo:

He deserve all the bashing, i hope many more will bash him more on media. Their confussed decision in Zambia-Cameroon group tie, was another sign of ignarance in football decision making.

Na only that one? CAF is so archaic. . . . .it still beats me why an Algeria that scored only 1 goal should be allowed to qualify ahead of a Mali that scored 7 goals. . . . they call it head to head but it's nonsense to me. Rules should be made and adopted to encourage attacking football IMO.

They should think again

The CAF's decision is really unfair because it is the CAF and the Angolan government who should have provided a police protection for the Togo team or an adequate information about security in Angola. Togo should be seeking legal action against CAF because if people died, it was the fault of the Angolan government and CAF; If you organise the Africa Cup you should provide at least a protection escort for the players. The players of Togo are not responsable of the shooting, they are the victims, so why should they pay by a heavy fine and a ban?

Africans!!!!!!!!!





http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/piersedwards/2010/01/caf_decision_over_togo_makes_n.html

@aieromon,
I think the Zambia tragedy is not the same as the togo incident.
Zambia were on their way to play Senegal and their plane crashed off the coast of Gabon.FIFA gave them a 3-month leave of absence to mourn and that game was re-scheduled.
CAF coulda been more sensible about this,especially in regard to their so-called regulations.Like Jesus once said,"the law was made for man,not man for the law.This was a case where an exemption could have been mae because of the tragic and unplanned loss of life which by normal standards is enough for any team to pull out of any competition.
There is a Local Organising Commitee that organised the event,and there should be a sub-committee that handles security.Now if security is deemed not good enough,any national government can decide to pull out its players,therefore pointing the finger at the host country.CAF should have looked at security arrangements.Why host  games in a territory known for rebels?That's a question CAF should ask the Angolans.WE didný host any games in the Niger Delta region during the U-17 championship.
We are talking of loss of lives here.The trauma the Togolese went through will accompany most of the players to their grave,if not all of them.
It is cruel to expect Togo to have played when this incident occured.Sometimes,CAF does not realise that there is life after football,that sometimes football takes a back seat to other issues in life.This was one of them.They should have put things in perspective and considered the three lives that were lost:if it were any of their family members,would they have wanted to play on if in the shoes of the Togolese?
The Togo governemnt were RIGHT to pull out  the team,in the light of the fact that (a)security was inadequate (since there was an attack) (b)No measures were taken by either CAF or the Angolan government to ensure the safety of the Togolese national team.

The way it is,CAF lost money by not staging three games the Togolese were scheduled to play.Broadcast rights,ticket salesand all.The only way to recoup some of it is to fine Togo.It's harsh andd cruel,totally uncalled for anddoes not portray CAF in any positive light, Me thinks other countries should join the ban in solidarity with Togo.Let's see if Botswana,Swaziland,Seychelles ,Mauritius and Djibouti can make the Cup of African Nations a watchable spectacle.