'Fake' Togo football team at Bahrain match being investigated

[acrossthepond 699]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11304208

 

'Fake' Togo football team at Bahrain match being investigated

 

Togo's football authorities are investigating allegations that a fake national team played a match against Bahrain earlier this month.

 

Bahrain won the friendly match 3-0, but said they were surprised by the poor quality of the Togolese team.

 

Togo later said it had never sent its national team to play in the game, staged at the national stadium in Riffa on 7 September.

 

Togo's sports minister said he would ask Fifa to investigate.

 

But Fifa says it has not yet received any official complaint and so has not launched its own investigation.

 

The match took place as Bahrain prepares to play in the West Asian Football Championships, which begin on 24 September.

 

The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) said it had been arranged under all the usual official procedures, and through an agent they had known for several years.

 

"Everything seemed to be in order until after the game, when we began to hear that some people are wondering about these players and this Togo team. We ourselves were surprised when we heard this," a BFA spokesman told the Gulf Daily News.

 

He said they had received all the official documentation for the match, including the players' passports.

 

The spokesman rejected reports that the match was organised by a fake football agent, saying the agent in question had always been "100% alright" and was now co-operating with the investigations.

 

Togo's Sport Minister Christophe Tchao told the Jeune Afrique magazine nobody in Togo had "ever been informed of such a game".

 

"We will conduct investigations to uncover all those involved in this case," he said.

 

Bahrain's head coach, Josef Hickersberger, told the Gulf Daily News the match had been a wasted opportunity for the team to practise before the West Asian championships.

 

"They were not fit enough to play 90 minutes - the match was very boring," he said.

 

"Basically it was not good for us because we wanted to get information about the strength of our team, especially playing with many of our professionals."

 

Sounds like a whole team full of Ali Daeis. You mean to tell me the Bahrainis couldn't tell that the chumps they were playing weren't professionals? Something dodgy going on here.

[acrossthepond 699]

I know you all have been DYING to hear the exciting conclusion to this international football thriller, so here it is!

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/9023028.stm

 

Former Togo coach Bana Tchanile 'sorry' over fake team

 

Former Togo coach Tchanile Bana has apologised for taking a fake national team to Bahrain earlier this month.

 

The team of imposters masquerading as Togolese internationals played a friendly against the Gulf kingdom on 7 September and lost 3-0.

 

Bana has been banned from all football activities for three years.

 

"I present my sincere apologies to the president of the republic, all the Togolese people and the president of the Bahrain FA," he said.

 

"I'm aware of the mistakes I've made. I've received a three-year ban. I'm obliged to accept it in a gesture of sportsmanship."

 

Bana added that his motives were driven by the frustration of a group of young players who were finding it impossible to break into any of the national set-ups.

 

"I wanted to help youngsters in Togo who chose to play football, but who have problems making it because of a lack of competition at a national level," he said.