Are the CAF guilty of a huge injustice?

Togo have been banned from the next two Africa Cup of Nations following their withdrawal from this year's tournament.
The Confederation of African football (Caf) also fined the Hawks $50,000 for quitting the competition in the wake of a gun attack on the team bus in Angola.

Egipto volvió a retener el título africano al vencer a Ghana 1-0 en la final disputada en Luanda, Angola. Los Faraones conquistaron así la XXVII Copa Africana de Naciones y redondearon el hepta.
Fue una Copa manchada de sangre por el atentado a la delegación de Togo, antes de comenzar la competición.

In the comments to the previous post about today's attack on Togo's team bus in Cabinda (reminding Henry Winter that it's part of Angola, and not South Africa), Andrew Guest suggested we post a map of Cabinda to illustrate its complex relation to Angola. As we can see, Cabinda is an enclave of Angola, with what is called Zaire on the map (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) between it and Angola proper.

Gunmen opened fire with machine guns on a bus carrying Togo's football team to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, wounding several players.

Officials say the shooting occurred in the Angolan oil-rich territory of Cabinda, where rebels have been fighting for independence. The Angolan government called the incident an "act of terrorism".

So on the eve of the African Cup of Nations 2010, African football's jewel in the crown, tragedy strikes. As was reported earlier, the Togo national team bus was ambushed by gunmen and shot at on it's way from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the team's base in Cabinda, where they were due to play their Group B Cup of Nations matches.

The news started coming through early on Saturday morning and as the information became clearer, it was soon apparent that the whole African Cup Of Nations would now be tainted. When the dust had settled, 3 members of the Togo party were dead and several were seriously injured. Angolan rebels had attacked the team bus as it drove through the dangerous territory of Cabinda.

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As Tom wrote earlier today, it is unclear whether the tournament should continue in light of three deaths and emerging evidence of cynical political maneuvering in the Angolan government's decision to host games in Cabinda; it appears it for the time being it will, as Angola kicked off this evening against Mali.

The response to the attack on the Togolese team from much of the rabble that constitutes the English Premier League was predictable. The emirs and oligarchs did not say much, leaving it to some of the old fashioned brass merchants to bellow about bringing their players "home".
Arsène Wenger was not of the same mind.

Finally, after an eventful January, I've got some answers to the big questions for this year of African soccer. Was Angola 2010 a success or a failure? Yes. Will the World Cup in South Africa be a success or a failure? Yes.

Let me try to explain.

I was hoping this week I could write something about the games at the African Cup of Nations, or something for fans caught up in a wave of enthusiasm for the coming World Cup.

The most important development in African soccer taking place this year might not be the World Cup in South Africa despite its successful staging (oh, yeah, it seems to have turned out that Cabinda is not in South Africa) argues Paul Doyle in an excellent Guardian piece on domestic African leagues, specifically, the possibility that Kenya might be leading the way with new leadership in the Kenyan Premier League:

Africa is a football-mad continent but has only ever sent three teams to the World Cup quarter-finals.

Several members of the Togo national team are reported injured after their team bus was ambushed and shot at on it's way to the team base in Cabinda.
According to Football365.fr, the bus carrying the Togolese national team was attacked by a rebel group as it was crossing the Congolese-Angolan border.

O ônibus que transportava a seleção do Togo foi metralhado ao cruzar a fronteira entre Congo e Angola, onde será disputada a Copa Africana de Nações (CAN), e "dois jogadores foram feridos", relatou Thomas Dossevi, um dos atletas, ao canal esportivo francês Infosport.
"Temos dois jogadores feridos.

The intersection of oil and football has moved from a field in Fallujah to a Cabinda-Congo border crossing, when earlier today separatist rebels ambushed the Togolese team bus.
Terrified Togolese footballers told of how they dived to the deck of the bus as they were "machine-gunned like dogs".

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.

With the African Nations Cup only days away and excitement building all over Africa, a terrible incident has threatened to derail the competition altogether

Togo's national team bus was machine-gunned by Angolan rebels on the Congolese border ahead of the African Cup of Nations. Reports on the extent of fatalities and injuries are still mixed, but it seems that the bus driver was fatally wounded and several players have been left in in serious condition.

African Cup of Nations to go ahead after sickening attack.

Togo are considering pulling out of the Africa Cup of Nations after their team bus came under gunfire in Angola.
Two players were shot and injured in the attack in the northern province of Cabinda and the coach driver killed.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
Bruce McGuire (Hey, that's me!): "I can't wait to start watching the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday at the Holyland in Northeast Minneapolis! The first game is the host Angola v Mali (the team has an amazing midfield.) Where will you be watching at?"
STARTERS
Landon Donovan will probably make his debut for Everton on Saturday at Arsenal, but sadly the game is not on Television.

In the aftermath of yesterday's events in Angola, some journalists have, typically, raised question marks over the security surrounding this year's World Cup Final in South Africa.Let me just say this is the kind of tabloid nonsense that we just don't need at the moment. Angola is not South Africa. Cabinda, where the shootings took place, is disputed territory and, because it is oil rich, there

The African Cup of Nations 2010 begins today. Though the competition was shrouded under a blanket of tragedy before the opening ceremonies have even been performed due to events in Cabinda, there is still a three-week tournament ahead of us that, we hope, brings entertainment and joy to the people of Angola, the people of Africa and to people watching all over the world.

There is of course a downside to the age of instant analysis, with blogs posting instant opinions about the political under-trappings of a football tournament held an ocean or a continent away, in a country very few knew much about geographically only a few days ago. I don't know how many times today I've read writers who in one sentence condemn the conflation of Angola and South Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup, but in the next are content to speak about how Friday's attack on the Togolese football team bus in Cabinda has affected "African football's legacy" in "African football's biggest year.

Monday 11th January
13:30 Malawi v Algeria, Africa Cup of Nations, British Eurosport/British Eurosport HD
Despite the bloody intervention by The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda there is still a football tournament to be played. Few people are better equipped to move on after tragedy than the war torn populous of Angola.

The Ivorians play neighbours Burkina Faso (kickoff 1600 GMT) in the opening match of Group B in Cabinda, the enclave where two members of the Togo delegation were killed in an attack on their bus by a separatist movement previously considered dormant.

The question of whether Togo will play in the Africa Cup of Nations following the fatal attack on their team bus in Cabinda has taken another turn, with the team's request to re-enter the tournament after a three day mourning period apparently being rejected by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

CAF have announced Togo will be disqualified if they do not materialize for the kick off of their fixture against Ghana tonight in Cabinda.
Rumours abound whether Botswana, The Republic of the Congo or Namibia will be invited to do a "Denmark".
Cabinda's separatist rebels, FLEC, have apologized for the attack, claiming it was a mistake to attack the Togolese, and have presented their condolences to the families of the deceased.

Togo começou nesta segunda-feira três dias de luto nacional por causa dos mortos no atentado cometido na sexta-feira passada província angolana de Cabinda contra a seleção togolesa de futebol, quando disputaria a Copa Africana de Nações. Os corpos do treinador assistente da seleção togolesa, Abalo Amelete, e o chefe de imprensa, Stan Ocloo, chegaram a Lomé nesta madrugada em um avião que trouxe o resto da equipe ao país, que deixou a competição por determinação do Governo, ao considerar que não há garantias de segurança.

AFCON tournament favourites Ivory Coast were held to a barren draw last night in Cabinda by a Burkina Faso side that were determined to make the most out of their opening Group B encounter. Burkina Faso, the underdogs in this match, were lucky not to concede a goal as Ivory Coast had more than a handful of chances to score.

L'agguato dell'8 Gennaio alla nazionale del Togo (che si è poi ritirato ufficialmente) ha sicuramente gettato molte ombre sulla manifestazione, ma "the show must go on" e quindi si è dato il via alla 27° edizione della Coppa D'Africa. Si è partiti domenica scorsa con l'incontro inaugurale tra i padroni di casa dell'Angola, e il Mali.

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Togo's request to return to the Africa Cup of Nations following three days of mourning has been turned down by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

O risco de organizar partidas da Copa Africana de Nações em Cabinda era conhecido pelos responsáveis pela competição continental há muito tempo. Ao menos é o que disse nesta terça-feira o diretor-executivo do Comitê Organizador do Mundial da África do Sul, Danny Jordaan, que reiterou que não há qualquer possibilidade de algo parecido acontecer durante a próxima Copa do Mundo.

Ghana belatedly kick-off their African Nations Cup campaign against Ivory Coast in Cabinda and coach Milovan Rajevac is expecting no easy ride in what is certainly the pick of the first-round games.

The Africa Cup of Nations is going on at the moment in Angola, and it could not have started in a better way...in the opening game, Angola was winning 4-0 against Mali after 75 minutes of play...but the final result was an incredible...4-4!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DP96S_veos

Unfortunately, the news preceding the game began was not so exciting or happy.

O terceiro jogo da Copa da África de Nações no ano de 2010, foi realizada na cidade de Cabinda, pelo grupo B, no dia 11-01-2010 e envolveu as seleções da Costa do Marfim (16º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção de Burkina Faso (49º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo
2010Abidjan 05/09/2009 CIV5:0 (1:0)BFA Third stage2010Ouagadougou 20/06/2009 BFA2:3 (1:1)CIV Third stage1978Abidjan 26/09/1976 CIV2:0 (2:0)BFA First stage1978Ouagadougou 04/09/1976 BFA1:1 (0:1)CIV First stage
Eliminatórias Copa da África
1996Ouagadougou 30/07/1995 BFA1:1 (1:0)CIV
1996Abidjan 22/01/1995 CIV2:2 (2:0)BFA
1978Abidjan 02/10/1977 CIV4:1BFA
1978Ouagadougou 18/09/1977 BFA0:1CIV
Amistosos
1999Abidjan 29/12/1999 CIV3:1 (0:0)BFA
1998Ouagadougou 30/08/1998 BFA1:1 (0:0)CIV
1997Ouagadougou 27/12/1997 BFA2:0 (1:0)CIV
1997Bouake 02/11/1997 CIV0:0BFA
1996Abidjan 09/06/1996 CIV1:1 (0:1)BFA
1994Ouagadougou 30/01/1994 BFA0:1 (0:1)CIV
1984Ouagadougou 28/11/1984 BFA0:0 (0:1)CIV Second stage1984Ouagadougou 20/11/1984 BFA0:0 (1:1)CIV First stage1982Cotonou 22/02/1982 BFA1:1CIV Second stage
O árbitro desse jogo, foi: Bennaceur Kacem {Tunisia }
Não tivemos abertura de placar nesse jogo.

The Togo football team, on its way to the Africa Cup of Nations, was shot at by Cabinda rebels nearby the Angolan border . This happened just a few hours ago and there are reports that 2 players and a bus driver are seriously injured. Cabinda rebels represent a separatist movement that is fighting for independence from the Angolan state.

Egitto e Nigeria nei quarti, grazie ai risultati di ieri, oggi ultima fatica per il Girone D, dove il Gabon è ad un passo dalla qualificazione.
Prima con 4 punti, dopo aver sconfitto il Camerun all'esordio e pareggiato a reti bianche con la Tunisia nel secondo turno, la nazionale di Alain Giresse si ritrova con un piede e mezzo nei quarti di finale.

Tournament favourites Ivory Coast were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations last night after losing 3-2 to Algeria in the quarter finals. The Elephants were given a rude shock when Algeria twice came from behind to steal a draw and ensure the match went into extra time.

This coupled with the news of Milan's defeat to arch rivals Inter turned my otherwise great weekend into just an okay one.

Egypt take on Ghana today in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, with the Pharaohs going for their third successive victory in the tournament. On their way to the final, Egypt have beaten three teams that have qualified for this summer's World Cup – Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Algeria – while they will be absent from South Africa.

The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations is over. Though I usually love the tournament, I won't be remembering this edition fondly. For several reasons.

First and foremost, Angola 2010 will mostly be remembered for the attack on the Togo team bus, in which three people died and many more thought they were going to die.

Jogaram pelas quartas de final da Copa Africana de Nações, no dia 24-01-2010, na cidade de Cabinda, as seleções da Costa do Marfim (22º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da Argélia (31º do ranking da FIFA). As 2 seleções estão classificadas para a próxima Copa do Mundo, África do Sul 2010.

The 2010 World Cup is set to kick off just five weeks from today, but despite South Africa's insistence that players and fans will be protected from harm during the tournament, security concerns continue to hang over the event.
Though no specific threat has been identified, the world's largest sporting event is widely considered a savory target for terrorists to stage an attack.

Um tribunal de Angola prendeu quatro pessoas envolvidas no atentado contra a seleção do Togo, dias antes da Copa das Nações Africanas. O grupo que fez o ataque seria de militantes de um grupo que deseja a independência da região de Cabinda, onde aconteceu o ataque.
O tribunal da região decidiu que os quatro são culpados por crimes contra a segurança do estado, segundo os vigilantes dos direitos humanos.