The Hindu : Sport / Football : FIFA steps in to prevent Togo no-show

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Monday, Jun 19, 2006

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FIFA steps in to prevent Togo no-show

FRANKFURT: FIFA intervened on Sunday to persuade Togo's players not to boycott their World Cup game with Switzerland as unrest simmers in the Togolese camp.

The squad was on its way to Dortmund where Togo will play its second Group G match against Switzerland on Monday. The players had initially stayed in their base in southern Germany while they discussed a long-running pay dispute.

"As far as we understand, the team did not want to play," a FIFA spokesman said. "The FIFA delegate there told them it would be extremely serious. He told them to be reasonable and they were," the spokesman said, adding that the team was now on the road.

No team that has qualified for the finals has withdrawn from a match in the 76-year history of the event. Any nation doing so faces a heavy fine and could be banned from subsequent competitions.

"We are on the bus now," coach Otto Pfister told Reuters on the telephone. "I think they have found a solution but I don't know what it is and I don't want to know," he added.

The Togo players, beaten 2-1 by South Korea in their opening match, did not leave their base in Wangen on Sunday in time to catch their scheduled morning flight to Dortmund. Instead players held crisis meetings with officials over the pay row.

The dispute had prompted Pfister to walk out just before the tournament, saying it made it impossible for him to do his job. He returned just in time for the first match. — Reuters

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