That's not right

I see that Togo have been banned from the next two AFCON cups in 2012 and 2014 because they elected to pull out of the 2010 event.

That’s a bit harsh considering they had just been mown down by AK47 wielding terrorists who happened to kill two of their delegations when their bus was ambushed in Angola.

If you get attacked away from home and you watch a couple of team-mates get carted off in either bodybags or evacuated in medical helicopters, you probably do want to head home. It’s not been a good day at the office.

And now CAF is banning them from participating in the next two tournaments because the decision was taken by their political masters?

Yes I get that the precedent was set by Nigeria in 1996 and there is an economic cost to lose a team, but it hardly sounds practical considering these circumstances. I also get that the reason for the ban is for the political ” interference” as opposed to the players wanting to leave because of emotional anguish, but the long term damage that is done to Togo’s football by excluding them from a national tournament will be far-reaching.

Wake up Africa

Last night reports came in that the Togo football team had been attacked on their team bus as they arrived in Angola. Apparently millitants sprayed their bus with machine gun fire killing the driver and injuring a couple of the players and their support staff.

In a year where Africa is finally going to host a World Cup, this is the last kind of media attention that the continent needs.

Yes, for those who have some education, there is a huge difference between South Africa and Angola, but for first time visitors to the continent, much of it is tarred with the same brush.

Not so long ago, a similar attack occured in Pakistan on the Sri Lankan cricket team. The impact on Pakistani cricket is still being felt today with many international teams refusing to tour the region because of security concerns.

It irritates the hell out of me when I read about attacks on sports teams. These are international ambassadors with NO POLITICAL intent beyond playing a game which ultimately unites a country (hopefully behind their home team). Yet to make a statement we then see if we can kill people who are doing your country a favour and hopefully giving a bit of economic impetus to already fragmented businsess.

Wake up Africa.