There Must And Should Be A Better Option Here

I may be alone here in feeling a little outraged on behalf of the players of Togo at what I have just found out... but I doubt that I am somehow.

Everybody knows that the team where attacked by machine gun fire on Friday and that thus far the death toll stands at three. Most people will also be aware that despite some uncertainties about whether Togo will return to the tournament they left after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Angolan Government officials were unable to make guarantees regarding the player’s security.

However, the CAF have told Ghana, who were due to play Togo on Monday that they must proceed as if the Group B match is going ahead; Togo will then be officially disqualified from the tournament for failing to field a team for the match. Ghana may be forced to take to the pitch in full strip and stage a mock kick off before the game will be cancelled and Togo officially withdrawn.

Togo may also face sanctions from the CAF for failing to field a team.

This, to me is frankly shocking behaviour. The Togo team are clearly worried for their security and grieving their countrymen, their team-mates, their friends. The actions or perhaps the stated probable actions of the CAF defy grounding in humanity. Togo's Prime Minister said today that the country had withdrawn completely and that reports that the team may return after three days of mourning were quite wrong.

"We withdrew our players on the basis that they were victims of a terrorist attack."

"Our analysis is that they want it to be seen as a non-event and the show must go on as planned; there mustn't be an official change and Togo is causing problems to the festival"

Clearly my sympathies are with the Togo team. I wonder if UK teams could get together some games to compete with the African nations in which the Togo team could come play in.... Man United have a free weekend late in January, courtesy of Leeds United.

I of course hope that no such event happens again, but I would like to think that if any similar atrocity were to occur that UEFA would not force a similar farce to take place.