Soccer: Man City striker's fury as Togo ousted

Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor called for the Confederation of African Football's president to resign over the "outrageous" decision to suspend Togo from the next two Africa Cup of Nations contests after they withdrew from this year's event.

Adebayor was on the Togo team bus when it was attacked by gunmen before the tournament in Angola, killing the assistant coach and media officer.

The Togolese government withdrew the team despite the players' desire to compete. That decision led the Confederation's Cameroonian president Issa Hayatou to issue the sanction on grounds of political interference.

"Mr Hayatou has done much for Africa but now he must clear off. This decision is monstrous," Adebayor said.

The striker, whose muted celebration yesterday after scoring in the 2-0 win over Portsmouth reflected the grief he described at holding media officer Stan Ocloo as he died, added: "They're laughing in everybody's face and they do not care about the voice of the world."

Togo President Faure Gnassingbe had sent the side to the tournament "to defend the colours of our nation", Adebayor added.

"He judged that the threat to our team had not been removed and called us back. We were obliged to return."

Togo's coach, Hubert Velud, wants to know if the ban is supported by Fifa and UEFA. "If they let this go, it is the gateway to completely dysfunctional football," he said.

- INDEPENDENT