CAF president insists Togo were not kicked out

Published on Tuesday 12 January 2010 21:58

CONFEDERATION of African Football president Issa Hayatou insists Togo withdrew from the African Nations Cup with their blessing rather than being disqualified.

There had been uncertainty over the situation since the team returned home from Angola after a gun attack on their team bus in the restive province of Cabinda which reportedly left three people dead last Friday.

And Hayatou admits he wanted Togo to stay on and play in the tournament.

"When we heard the squad wanted to leave I told them that it wasn't a good thing. Life has to go on," he said. "Of course what happened to them has affected their motivation and I understand their sadness but we have to say there is no better event than the African Nations Cup in Africa.

"Togo decided to leave and we told them we understand perfectly their decision and that we would respect it."

He added: "The day after the event I read in the press that Togo had decided to stay, that the players wanted to stay, then a few hours later we heard another decision; a decision of politics for them to leave. So that's why they left.

"Contrary to what people say, CAF did not disqualify Togo, Togo decided to quit. We regret what happened and wanted to have our brothers from Togo in the tournament. But we accept their decision."

Hayatou – whose organisation were alarmingly silent in the 24 hours following the attack – said: "There were true rumours, false rumours and all these rumours contributed to the increased feeling of fear.

&#149 Defending African Nations Cup champions Egypt made a strong start to the defence of their crown, coming from behind to beat Nigeria 3-1 in the opening game in Group C. Goals from Emad Meteab, Ahmed Hassan and Mohammed Naguy cancelled out Chinedu Obasi's opener for Nigeria. In the other Group C match last night, Mozambique came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Benin.