OMFG! AFCON: Togo bus attack

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fishfly

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The Togo national team bus has been machine-gunned by Angolan rebels on the Congolese border ahead of the African Nations Cup.

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The attack happened just after players entered Cabinda.

Two players are reported to be injured and a Togolese sports ministry spokesman in Lome said that the bus driver had been killed in the attack. The Sparrow Hawks are in the country ahead of the African tournament, which gets under way on Sunday.

"The Angolan driver was killed on the spot," the Togolese official told Reuters.
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http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=722453&sec=global&cc=3888


This is seriously tragic! wtf? AFCON should be halted or moved to a more secure place!
 
Look on the bright side - ActionX might pick up the broadcast for SA viewers...

Seriously though - that is whack man, how did they not get enough security - what a bloody mess. Idiots.
 
the attack happened around 3.15pm just after players entered Cabinda
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Travel Alert: Travellers venturing outside the capital Luanda should exercise caution. Foreigners have been targeted in Cabinda province to the north, and travel in North and South Lunda provinces, to the west, can also be risky. Landmines pose a threat throughout the country.
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I would have thought it common knowledge not to go anywhere near Cabinda? :wtf:
 
that's messed up. and also, how bad a shot were those psychos? a whole bus and the damage was minimal... luckily though.
 
Apprently they targeted the bus in front... so thank god the team never got killed off... would be worse than the Munich disaster....
 
Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying the Togo national football team in Angola, reportedly wounding several players ahead of the African Cup of Nations.

"We were machine-gunned like dogs," Togo player Thomas Dossevi, who plays for French club Nantes, told Radio Monte Carlo. "They were armed to the teeth ... We spent 20 minutes underneath the seats of the bus."

RMC reported that three players were seriously injured in the attack -Serge Gakpe, who plays for Monaco, Serge A***po of Romanian club Vaslui and Kodjovi Obilale of French lower league team Pontivy. The team's top player, Emmanuel Adebayor, was not hurt, according to his club Manchester City.
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http://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/soccer/article253861.ece

Claude Leroy, a former Cameroon and Ghana coach, said African footballing authorities now had to decide whether to play the tournament.

"You have to ask the question. Football's just a game," Leroy told RMC. "This is really serious and means that safety cannot be guaranteed. These local hotspots can be really dangerous. The CAF is going to have to take a decision on this crazy shooting." - Additional reporting by Ebow Godwin in Lome, Togo. - Sapa-AP
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:eek::eek::eek:
 
smokey said:
Seriously though - that is whack man, how did they not get enough security - what a bloody mess. Idiots.
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From the other thread on this topic :

Habuba did, however, question why Togo, in contrast to the other 15 teams making their way to Angola for the biennial competition, had elected to travel by road rather than flying.

"CAF's regulations are clear, teams are required to fly rather than travel by bus."
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LancelotSA said:
From the other thread on this topic :
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True, the team technical staff are idiots for not following protocol - but I'm sure there were extenuating circumstances and frankly security should have been organized for them. I firmly believe they should take blame for messing up their travel arrangements, but what kind of organizing committee turns a blind eye to the fact that something like this might happen? It's just bad form.
 
sadly i think teams need to start travelling around in bulletproof vehicles.... i mean what if players were shot and killed :O sympathies to the bus driver but he will be forgotten.... how ape***** would some ppl go if Adebayor was pegged. damn
 
Positively Negative said:
sadly i think teams need to start travelling around in bulletproof vehicles.... i mean what if players were shot and killed :O sympathies to the bus driver but he will be forgotten.... how ape***** would some ppl go if Adebayor was pegged. damn
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I can tell you Man City's insurance company would have gone completely bonkers.
 
Togo have officially withdrawn from the AFCON so Adebayor can go back to the Blues...
 
He most likely will undergo consulling and what not... prob out for a month at least
 
moggie said:
Togo have officially withdrawn from the AFCON so Adebayor can go back to the Blues...
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Or not,
Thomas Dossevi told the AFP news agency the players wanted to stay in Angola in memory of the three people who were killed when rebels fired on their bus.
L'Equipe quoted Alaixys Romao as saying the team would not leave like cowards.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8450421.stm
No one would have blamed them if they'd decided to leave though. Must've been very traumatic.

And these western media buffoons lumping the whole continent together as one (and therefore linking this shooting to the WC) really get on my nerves. Now the LOC has to run around assuring everyone the WC is safe as if we have a rebel group here (unless the Boeremag have escaped).

Idiots!
 
Yeas, some conflicting stories on the wires... their gov't says 'Withdraw' and it seems the players are saying 'Play'.

Typical response from media in certain countries wrt SWC security - they will now start digging up all their old stories about how unsafe it is in SA.
 
Togo players wanted to stay and play, but their government did the right thing by calling them back. I dont think the bus trip was a clever one for them.
 
Togo's request to return to Africa Cup of Nations turned down

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/11/togo-blocked-africa-cup-return


Togo's request to play at the Africa Cup of Nations has been turned down by the tournament organisers.

The squad flew home yesterday in the wake of Friday's gun attack, which killed three people, the side's assistant coach, its press officer and the Angolan bus driver.

The country's sports minister had asked the Confederation of African Football to allow the team to take part after three days of mourning.

But Caf, which initially wanted Togo to remain in Angola, has turned down the request. So far given no reason for its decision to exclude them has been given.

How kark is that? First they've been shot at and now they can't play in the tournament.
 
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