FIFA steps in to avert Togo boycott

[Bitter]

Look bacchanal...

http://sport.monstersandcritics.com/worldcup2006/news/article_1173627.php/FIFA_steps_in_to_avert_Togo_boycott
Friedrichshafen, Germany - FIFA intervened to talk Togo's players out of boycotting Monday's Group G World Cup match with Switzerland, officials said Sunday.

'We pointed out the seriousness of the matter,' FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler said after the players finally agreed to catch a flight for Dortmund after hours of negotiations over unpaid bonuses.

FIFA rules state than any team which fails to turn up for a match is immediately disqualified. They could also face financial penalties and be banned from other FIFA-sanctioned competitions.

The players had at first refused to leave their hotel and it was unclear if they had come to an agreement over the money with Togo football authorities.

But they finally agreed to board a bus for the airport where a team official confirmed: 'They have caught the plane.'

Togo's German coach Otto Pfister stepped down on June 9 over the row after his team had refused to train, but returned three days after being told that an agreement had been reached.

'I understand the players, they are being promised things but then nothing happens,' he told reporters at the hotel before the team left for the airport.

Pfister said the federation had yet to pay the players an agreed 50,000 euros (62,500 dollars) bonus for reaching the finals.

Each team at the World Cup is paid one million Swiss francs (642,000 euros) by FIFA who also pay the travel cost of 45 people per squad.

[Bourbon]

Steups.....in the buildup to world cup i was expecting dis to be us instead of togo with the govt sticking on the bonuses and ting. This only affecting the team. I saw their first game....and even though going a goal up....and afterwards a man down....they just collapsed. That is where team chemistry and solidarity comes into play and given the unsettled camp they had pre world cup.......those things didnt get a chance to develop and as such it was their undoing.

[Trini Madness]

another thing also is that they doh even have their minds on de next game. they only thinking about money. to be honest if i was playing in de world cup,  de last thing on meh mind would be money. i could careless about de money.......this is flikkin WORLD CUP yuh taking bout.

[Bourbon]

True. It comes down to who are willing to perform their function and duties. The players are playing....give them their reward. Doh sit down on yuh ass and expect dem to take anything cuz dem want to play. On the flip side.....imagine you gone and boycott for 20 grand....when you could shine in world cup and have that same 20 grand as your weekly salary.....it have some truth and some error to both sides.....buh in the end....the players stand to loose more.

[berris]

It eh nice to hear something like dis happening to  another team especially  ah first timer team ,like TnT,ah really hope dem breddars work it out and try and make de best of ah bad situation and try and enjoy dey dream of playing in ah WC.....

[lunz]

Togo's players could boycott Monday's World Cup Group G match with Switzerland if money they have been promised has not been transferred into their bank accounts, according to defender Jean-Paul Abalo.

Togo only travelled to Dortmund from their base in Wangen in southern Germany after being assured they would be paid money owed for qualifying for the country's first ever World Cup.


Abalo said that if the money had not appeared in their bank accounts tomorrow then the team would discuss whether to go ahead with the fixture.

'We will decide tomorrow,' Abalo said after training at the Westfalenstadion. 'We want to see the money in our accounts - it's the group that decides.

'This will be the decision of the whole squad - not just one player.'

Abalo claimed that the dispute was not about bonuses for performances in Germany but the bonus they were promised for qualifying.

'Just the bonuses for qualifying,' he said. 'We have not seen any money yet.

'We reached an agreement in principle with the (Togo) Football Federation this morning. Now we must wait and see.'

[ttcom]

While I agree with the Togo fed should pay the players and the Yes you may not be able to go to wal mart and pickup items but THE World Cup is a audition for big contract in europe for any players and yes if you in germany as a world cup player you can walk into a store and get things free. Take a few photo and sign a few autographs. You can always hire a lawyers to take the fed. to court. I doubt any togonese player is hungry or homeless. It all about the game not about self.
PS. Who's going to explain it to the fans in the stadium?

[Bitter]

I like allyuh who talkin gabout how is the cup.
Who here deos work for free?