Togo lose appeal to be allowed in African Nations Cup draw

February 18 – Togo’s appeal for provisional measures to be taken to ensure their place in the preliminary draw for the 2012 African Nations Cup have been dismissed, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) have announced.

Togo were disqualified from the next two African Nations Cup competitions by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following their withdrawal from the tournament in Angola last month.

Their exit was prompted by a terrorist attack on their team bus which left three people dead.

The Togolese Football Federation (FTF) have appealed against the disqualification to CAS and as part of that appeal they asked for provisional measures to be taken to ensure they could be included in the 2012 preliminary draw, which will be made on Saturday.

But CAS have dismissed that request, insisting that if Togo are successful in their appeal to be reinstated then the draw would need to be revised at some stage in the future, with the qualifying competition not due to start until September.

A statement from CAS issued tonight said: “The FTF lodged an appeal at the CAS following the decision of the CAF to suspend the national team of Togo for the next two editions of the African Cup of Nations (CAN).

“In its appeal, the FTF requested provisional measures in order to be able to participate in the draw of the qualifying round for the next CAN which will take place on 20 February 2010.

“The CAS has rejected such request for provisional measures after having considered that the non-participation of Togo in the draw of 20 February 2010 would not call in question the participation of the team in the first qualifying matches for the CAN 2012 which will start in September 2010.

“The CAF has indeed admitted that there would be no material obstacle to the organisation of a new draw in the event that the appeal of the FTF is upheld. In view of such guarantee, the CAS has considered that, at this stage, there was no risk of irreparable harm for the FTF.

“The arbitration procedure continues in accordance with the regular CAS procedure.

“A panel of three arbitrators will be constituted within the next days and a hearing should take place in spring 2010.”

Togo’s Sports Minister Christophe Tchao confirmed last week that an appeal had been lodged with CAS.

An assistant coach and the team’s press officer – plus a driver – were killed when Togo’s bus was fired upon on the eve of the tournament last month.