Five months ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Togo team bus comes under machine gun fire right after crossing the border into Cabinda, killing and injuring players and support staff and leaving them all shaken.
This is really bad news for AFCON, tragic for Africa and such terrible planning by the FIFA and the AFCON organising committee.
Togo To Begin Campaign Against Ghana on Monday
Togo are scheduled to begin their cup campaign against Ghana on Monday, but their participation in the tournament now looks in serious doubt.
Cabinda – Rich Oilfields in Disputed Area
Cabinda is a disputed area. It is an enclave or exclave) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Over the years, the status has been disputed by many political organizations in the territory. The situation in Cabinda consists of both Angolan government military forces waging a war with the guerrillas and the oil corporations directly impacting the environment and people of Cabinda. Here most of the battles are about the rich oilfields.
Sadly the nearly 1 million barrels of oil a day that Angola produces seems not to have a direct impact on the poverty-stricken population of Cabinda.
Obilalé and Akakpo Hurt
It has been reported that GSI Pontivy goalkeeper Obilalé and Vaslui FC defender Akakpo are the two footballers to suffer injuries while five other members of the support team were also hurt. Akakpo reportedly took a bullet in the back while Obilalé was shot in the kidneys.
Cabinda Area Not Safe for Soccer
One thing is clear as the view out across the Indian Ocean on a summer day. This area is not safe to host any matches or sporting events of any kind; has never been and will never be until the various factions and the Angolan government have made peace. It was crazy to attempt to stage such an important tournament in an area where political desperadoes are prepared to kill some of their continent’s greatest sporting stars just to grab some headlines and attract a bit of media attention.
In Cabinda, the safety of players, fans and all those concerned is put in danger and it is obvious that all those matches should be moved to the other cities. Maybe all the Group B matches should be moves to Luanda.
Meeting about “Smooth Running of Competition”
According to the CAF website, on Saturday morning, 9 January 2010, an important delegation be headed by the Angolan Minister on Internal Affairs, Ministers of Youth and Sports, members from the Prime Ministers office as well as a powerful delegation from CAF will be in Cabinda.
The Angolan Prime Minister will meet on Saturday CAF President, Mr Issa Hayatou, to take decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the competition.
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