Through Western eyes it seems completely incomprehensible that a football team, containing players from some of the top clubs in the UK, could come under a sustained gunfire attack while simply travelling to a tournament. While supposedly more pressing conflicts are continually forced upon us, it is easy to forget that Africa is still plagued by civil wars, tribal in fighting, attempted genocides and the oppression of corrupt governments. For many in certain regions of Africa these are part of the day-to-day, something that many have adapted to that it has become an almost mundane component of the mathematics of survival. Far better instead to concern yourselves with protecting yourself and your family than to ponder on matters that you cannot change. With some luck, better times might be over the horizon.
The attack on the Togolese national team as they rode coach to Africa’s premier footballing event is of course a reason to be shocked. The coach driver was killed, his body riddled by bullets. Some of the staff and coaching team were also injured, along with two of the players themselves, Serge Akakpo and Kodjovi Obilale. The siege on the bus lasted close to thirty minutes, something that must have felt like a life time. Emmanuel Adebayor of Manchester City, the world’s richest football club, has already told of the horror of those moments and described scenes of panic as players phoned loved ones fearing they would be killed. They are now reportedly thinking of pulling out of the tournament, an understandable reaction under the circumstances.
In typical blinkered fashion Premier League managers have come out and called for the tournament to be shut down, for their “assets” to be sent home ensuring their safety. It is an easy knee-jerk reaction to arrive at, but one that would not be in the spirit of football, or indeed any sport of the people. There is a long standing history of football being the one societal aspect that never kowtows to the pressure of politics despite being permanently intertwined with it. Whether it be Stalinist Russia where the people could vent their anger against the army team of CSKA, or Argentina’s World Cup triumph in 1978 giving the people something to cheer about despite the oppressive regime of the junta, football remains pure by contrast to the murky world of politics. Not content with our legacy of interaction with the African continent, would we also really presume to rob the populace of a cause for celebration also?
For the many African people the Cup of Nations brings moments of unadulterated joy not present for the rest of the year. Any journalist who has attended will find a wealth of material to write about that verifies this, stories that have since become weighted in cliché. Whole communities coming together to huddle round one working television set, businesses being closed for the duration of the competition, the setting aside of conflict and the coming together of whole villages, towns and cities. Win or lose the pageantry never diminishes. It is as fine a spectacle in world football as you are likely to see and often the tournaments are remembered not for what takes place on the pitch, but what takes place in the stands and the crowds.
African people of all denominations love their football and it is followed devotedly by them wherever they may be. Angola, the host of this year’s tournament, is one of the world’s poorest countries; starvation, disease and death the spoils of a twenty-seven year long civil war that has left the country reeling. The people of Angola have little cause for cheer – yet being selected as host to this tournament, which will see a cavalcade of some of football’s biggest stars arrive to play, is certainly one of them. There is also the real, although brief, economic improvement the tournament will bring to those with businesses in the surrounding area of where the matches will take place. In addition to that there is a chance for Angola to be presented to the world in a way that not many have seen it before, a point of national pride for their people and an occasion they will want to rise to.
I feel for Togo – genuinely. If they choose to withdraw I’d respect it. If they decide to compete then they are brave beyond belief and should be applauded. But I always remember Didier Drogba talking about why he will never miss a game for the Ivory Coast after witnessing a stadium crush that left many Ivorian fans dead on the football pitch. Every game he plays for his country he dedicates to their memory. That is the key here – the players, though scared as anyone would be, need to do this for the people of Angola and give them something to take the mind off their problems. It may be a nervous few weeks for the national squads – for the residents of Angola, it is a much needed diversion from an all too brutal and long lasting daily reality.