Africa’s controlling football body late Friday said that the Africa Cup of Nations will go ahead, hours after an attack on the Togo team bus left one person dead and several wounded.
The bus driver was killed and two Togolese players were among those wounded when the bus came under machine-gun fire shortly after entering Angola.
Suleimanu Habuba, Confederation of African Football (CAF) director of communications, said that the attack came as a shock.
“Our first priority is the safety of the players, but the tournament will go ahead,” he said.
In a statement following an emergency meeting held on word of the incident, the confederation condemned the attack, which occurred 10 kilometres inside the Angolan territory as the Togolese delegation headed to Cabinda from Congo.
CAF said that Angolan authorities had sent a team to the area to assess the situation.
“According to the information provided by the director general, all injured people were taken to a hospital in Cabinda,” the CAF statement said.
Organizers are also to meet with Angolan officials Saturday in Cabinda to discuss the shooting. Angolan Prime Minister Antonio Paulo Kassoma and CAF President Issa Hayatou are to meet Saturday to “take decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the competition,” the confederation said.
“CAF is terribly saddened by these events and express its total support as well as sympathy to the entire Togolese delegation.” Togolese players, who are to play their first game Monday in Cabinda, said late Friday that they would discuss withdrawing from the competition.
The team has been drawn into the so-called Group of Death with Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.
The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The organization has been involved in a long-running struggle for independence for the Cabinda region, which is separated from the rest of Angola by the Democratic Republic of Congo.
