African Nations Cup Will Go Ahead - CAF

The African Nations Cup will go ahead as planned despite Friday's deadly attack on the Togo team buses which killed the driver and injured nine, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed to AFP.

"Our great concern is for the players, that's our key priority, but the championship goes ahead" Souleymane Habuba, CAF's communications director, insisted.

Tragedy struck the build-up to the Nations Cup which starts here on Sunday when gunmen fired on the Togo team as they crossed the border from Congo-Brazzaville to the troubled province of Cabinda.

The head of the Togolese football federation reported the driver had been killed and nine other passengers injured in the attack claimed by the armed wing of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC).

Habuba revealed that CAF's vice-president had set off from the Angolan capital of Luanda to Cabinda to find out at first hand what had occurred.

"We need to know all the facts about what's happening on the ground, we haven't got them all yet. We can't give a full reaction from reports that we have got from the media."

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 quite clear, teams are required to travel by air, not road.

"We had a meeting of all the teams this morning, or at least almost all of them - Togo didn't show up, and it was only later on Friday afternoon that we heard via information from the media that they had been the victims of an attack.

"But at no point were we told they were travelling by road."

Virgilio Santos of the local organising committee confirmed they had been in the dark as to how Togo were arriving at the Nations Cup.

"We asked all the delegations to tell us how and when they were coming, as well as the players' passport numbers. Togo was the only team not to reply and they didn't tell us they were coming by road," said Santos.

Habuba said CAF would make further comment on the shooting once they had more details either later Friday or Saturday.

The Togo team came under machinegun fire as they were travelling from their training camp in Point Noire in Congo to Cabinda where they were scheduled to play their opening match against west African neighbours Ghana on Monday.

Meanwhile, the African division of the player union FIFPro called on organisers to "leave no stone unturned, assuming the Cup can go ahead, to ensure the security of players and those accompanying them."

"Football is an instrument of peace, a festival," said FIFPro. "It should not be used as a vehicle for mindless violence, whatever the claims of those who seek to take it hostage" for their own ends.

Assuming the tournament does continue as Habuba insists then CAF and the Angolan authorities have a series of major issues to tackle, not least whether to maintain the original programme with games being held in Cabinda or transfer them to the other Cup venues in Angola in Luanda, Benguela or Lubango.

The other teams in their group are Burkina Faso and the star-studded Ivory Coast whose squad includes Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure.

http://www.wsn.com/2010/01/08/football/news/africa/african-nations-cup-to-go-ahead-caf_27242/