March 13 – Togo goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale (pictured) fears he will never play again and is planning to sue the Confederation of African Football (CAF), he has announced.
Obilale is returning to France two months after the fatal machine-gun attack on the Togo team as they travelled to the African Nations Cup in Angola.
The 25-year-old Pontivy keeper has been in hospital in South Africa since he was airlifted there following the attack and has had five operations, but is now preparing to claim compensation from CAF.
He said: ”Before thinking about playing football again, I hope to find again the form of a human being, I think I can recover in six months.
“But will I take up football again?
“I don’t know.
“I want to press charges.
“Notably against the CAF.
“They are savages.
“Their behaviour was inhuman.
“I want people to go before the court.”
The Pontivy goalkeeper was forced to issue an emotional appeal last month for help getting home after Angola refused to pay the €65,000 (£58,900) repatriation costs.
The France Football Federation stepped in but reports suggest their Togo counterparts have settled the bill.
Togo are currently embroiled in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against their ban from the next two editions of the African Nations Cup.
They were hit with the penalty following their withdrawal from this year’s tournament in the wake of the attack on their team bus, with CAF citing Governmental interference as the reason for the punishment.
An assistant coach, the team’s press officer and a driver were killed during the attack.
Related stories
January 2010: African Nations Cup opens in spectacular fashion as Togo fly home
January 2010: Togo Government order players home from Angola after they claim they want to stay
January 2010: Togo goalkeeper airlifted to South Africa for emergency surgery
January 2010: Togo pull out of African Nations Cup after gun attack
January 2010: Deaths as Togo team bus machine-gunned in Angola