Togo team are not willing to risk their lives to stay at the African Cup of Nations
- Saturday, January 9, 2010, 13:09
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Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor said his Togo team are not willing to risk their lives to stay at the African Cup of Nations after the gun attack which killed their driver and wounded nine others, including two players.Gunmen opened fire on the coach carrying the squad to the tournament after it had just entered the Angolan enclave of Cabinda, where separatists have waged a three-decade long war.
Shaken Togo captain Adebayor was on the bus but escaped unharmed.
“As the captain of my national team I can say that if the security is not sure then perhaps we will be leaving tomorrow (Saturday),” the former Arsenal striker told BBC World Service.
“It is a football game and one of the biggest tournaments in Africa but I don’t think people are ready to give their lives.
“A lot of players want to leave. They have seen death and want to go back to their families.”
The attack comes five months before South Africa becomes the first African nation to host the World Cup.
“We keep repeating (that) Africa, we have to change our image if we want to be respected and unfortunately that is not happening,” said Adebayor.
“We have a chance to organise … one of the biggest tournaments in this world which is the World Cup, and can you imagine what is happening now?”
Worries surrounding the World Cup focus on South Africa’s high rate of common crime, rather than political instability as in Cabinda, although security will be tight due to the risk of terrorism that all major sporting events face.
CAF said senior officials would fly to the area on Saturday.
The Angolan government said it would beef up security so that the tournament, due to run from January 10-31 in four provinces including Cabinda, could proceed peacefully.
Host nation Angola had hoped the tournament would showcase how well it had recovered from decades of civil war.
The separatist group the Front for the Liberation of Enclave of Cabinda claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened two days before the start of Africa’s most-followed sporting event.
Reuters
From: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
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