Sports
Confusion Surrounds Togo’s Participation In Angola… Players Want To Play, Govt Wants Team Back Home
Confusion reigns over Togo’s participation in the African Cup of Nations following the Prime Minister’s insistence that the team return home despite the players’ willingness to play in the tournament.
Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo said the national team must return to Togo and not compete in Africa’s biggest football tournament after two of its delegation were killed when the team bus was ambushed by separatists.
“If a team or some people present themselves under the Togolese flag, it will be a false representation,” he said.
Captain Emmanuel Adebayor said: “We will do what the government asks us to do. If their decision is that we have to come back home, we will come back home – and it seems that we will.”
A player and a Togo official in Angola had insisted earlier that the team would play in the tournament, which began yesterday..
“Togo are staying in the competition. I have called the players and they want to play. We are now awaiting official confirmation from the Togolese government,” said Kodzo Samlan, general secretary of the Togo soccer federation and a press officer for the Confederation of African Football.
He added that Adebayor was with the team in Angola’s Cabinda enclave. His club Manchester City had said on Saturday that the striker was leaving the country.
The team’s media officer Stanislas Ocloo and assistant coach Amalete Abalo were killed along with the bus driver. Seven people were wounded including reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale, who is in a stable condition in a South African hospital after surgery.
Early indications yesterday were that the players had determined to be ready for their first Group B match today, and witnesses saw the team practicing yesterday morning.
“We have just had a meeting of the whole delegation and we will be on the pitch on Monday to face Ghana,” Tidesports source quoted midfielder Alaixys Romao as saying.
“People have died for the African Nations Cup, others have been injured. We can’t let them down and leave like cowards,” said Romao, who plays for French club side Grenoble.
“Our government does not necessarily agree with us but we are all determined to play this competition.”
Angola has spent $1 billion (£700m) building stadiums, roads and hotels for the competition, which brings together Africa’s best national teams. The bi-ennial tournament, which lasts until January 31, will be broadcast live around the world.
The African Cup of Nations started with fireworks and champagne at a massive stadium in the capital Luanda, where the hosts played Mali in the opening match yesterday.
But Friday’s attack on the Togo team, staged by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda which the government said recently no longer existed, cast a shadow over an event supposed to show Angola was at peace after years of civil war.
Security analysts said the ambush showed how easily insurgents can grab world headlines.
Cabinda, the scene of FLEC attacks even after Angola’s 27-year civil war ended in 2002, provides half the oil output of Angola, which rivals Nigeria as Africa’s biggest producer.
It was the second militant attack on a sports team in less than a year. Last March, six policemen and a driver were killed when gunmen attacked a bus carrying Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Pakistan.
Friday’s assault raised questions about security for the soccer World Cup taking place in South Africa in June, but organisers of that event dismissed any comparisons. South Africa is the first African nation to hold the world’s biggest single-sport event.
Security analysts said outsiders involved in the World Cup are unlikely to ignore the Angolan attack and will want to review South Africa’s security preparations.
South African President Jacob Zuma attended yesterday’s opening ceremony despite the attack.
Cabinda, wedged between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo, is due to host seven matches.
The Nigeria Football Federation has defended the recent quarter-finals draw for the 2025 President Federation Cup, saying it was conducted in line with best global practices.
A member of the NFF Executive Committee Board, George Aluo, stated that criticism over venues for the quarterfinals was unfortunate.
Going by the fixtures released on Saturday by the football body, Abakaliki FC will take on Nasarawa United in Benin, Wikki Tourists will clash with Ikorodu City in Bwari, Abuja, Akwa United and Kwara United will fight it out in Enugu, just as Area 3, Abuja, will host the encounter between Rangers International and Plateau United. All matches are scheduled for May 3rd for the emergence of semifinalists in a leg affair.
However, there have been criticisms over the Ikorodu United vs Wikki Tourist tie billed for Abuja, with a section of the press saying the venue is skewed in favour of the Bauchi team.
Aluo, also the Chairman of the Nigeria National League (NNL), said: “Some of our media men need better education, and newsmen should not be like the fans out there on the streets. In the English FA Cup, it is always a one-legged pairing that can see a club like Arsenal host Manchester United at home”.
A new contract that will see Act Sports Di Oyibo Limited managing the career of Nigerian teqball specialist, Victor Oyemade, has been signed in Lagos.
The deal gives exclusive rights to Act Sports to manage, and exercise power of attorney over issues relating to the player’s welfare as it concerns his transactions, engagement for professional, promotional, sponsorships, endorsements, and exhibition purposes.
In signing the document, both parties also agreed that proper safeguards would be put in place to protect and promote the player’s interest at all times.
Director of Act Sports, Di Oyibo Limited, Pastor Samuel Robinson Oyibo, excited about the deal, said it would benefit both parties in the area of spreading the message of the sport, as well as laying a firm foundation for his new client’s future.
“Teqball is one of the world’s fastest-growing ball sports, and Victor Oyemade is the face of the sport here in Nigeria and Africa. That is why we are excited about this partnership that gives Act Sports official authorisation to manage his career, just as it will lay the foundation for its rapid growth in our country,” Pastor Oyibo said.
Oyemade was no less excited about the deal, saying it would help his growth in the sport.
Coaches of Nigeria’s U-18 and U-20 women’s handball teams have released their final lists of 14 players ahead of the IHF Women’s Trophy Zonal Phase, which will be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that commenced yesterday to end 24th of this month.
The two teams have been training at the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos, for close to two weeks and departed for the competition on Thursday.
Coach John Uzor of the national U-18 team has included Omole Joy of Defender Babes and her sister Omole Shola alongside Ojie Princess of Funad Academy alongside right back Faisat Balogun in the mix while Success Duru, Chetachi Ngaodurubie of COAS Babes and Sharon Okonkwo make the cut, amongst other players.
In the U-20 team, Coach Shittu Agboola has largely stuck with the players he has been grooming since their U-18 days. The team is led by Captain Chidera Ogbusimba alongside, her Rima Queens teammates the Samuel Sisters, Amina Mohammed and Joy Peters.
Israel-based Rahima Bello, Kehinde Babatunde of ASPAC HBC of Benin Republic and Esther Mathew, who is also based in Benin Republic, keep their places.
Coach Shittu believes his team will make Nigeria proud just as they did previously at the U-18 level.
“I am really upset that Taiwo Babatunde will not be part of the team for this competition as her school, Yaba College of Technology, insisted that they will not release her for national service because of examinations.
“We did everything humanly possible to secure her release and they didn’t care that it is a national service for the interest of Nigeria and the growth of sports. We have other players who are also students and they got a release from their schools but for no tangible reason, Yabatech refused to release Taiwo despite the fact that we did everything possible to secure her release. It’s sad and I hope the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Sports Commission will work in tandem so that schools will support our goal in making Nigeria proud in sporting events”.
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