FoxSports World Report says Otto Pfister has quit as Togo coach because of player demands concerning pay and bonuses for playing in the World Cup! If true, what a crazy turn of events. The players reportedly will not take the field Tuesday against South Korea if the situation isn't resolved. This would cause FIFA to impose sanctions on the TFF. I can understand the timing for the demands, but this has got to be devastating for the folks back home who were so overwhelmed with this team's accomplishments after the last qualifying match in October. The Togo PM has supposedly gone to Germany to help smooth over the situation--hope the effort works out. I want to see these guys play!
Re: Pfister Pfinished? I don't get it. Aren't most of them play in pro leagues in Europe making decent salaries? Even if they don't (and if they only think about money), this would be GREAT opportunity to showcase their talent and get attention from Euro teams. They probably can make more as pro players than the bonus that their PM offers.
It´s true, Pfister quits the job. (@mod: ? could be changed into a !, because it´s a fact now) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Togos German coach Otto Pfister quits his job as national coach yesterday, 4 days before the first match of his team. Reason for this was the pay dispute between the Togolese FA and the players, who were on strike for higher bonus payments. So the coach couldn´t work with the team, because they were on strike. The pay dispute seemed cleared, but the players hadn´t yet seen there money for the WC quali. --- Unprofessional attitude by the players anf the whole FA of Togo, things like payment negotiations must be clear before a WC. And do a strike at a WC, c´mon, is this a WC or a kindergarten?! Also not professional by the coach to let his players alone, but i don´t know, what else happen there. I know Pfister as someone very responsible, he must have had his reasons. Unbelievable, that this happens at a World Cup. :shakehead: original source: kicker.de
Re: Pfister Pfinished? you would think they'd all be thrilled just to be at the finals that said, they're not stupid people so i'll wait until more news comes out.
Re: Pfister Pfinished? Oh, yes, what i wrote was perhaps a bit harsh. I didn´t say the people are stupid, i don´t know them. But what i wanted to say is, that all the things, that happened, have a touch of unprofessionality. This shouldn´t sound arrogant. But i can´t see a team have sucess under such circumstances, but perhaps the team show against all odds a good performance, we´ll see.
Re: Pfister Pfinished? i heard that the Togo FF is going to have press conference soon, it may be happening right now. as far as i am aware there has been no official announcement of Pfister quitting either by Pfister of the TFF. But there has been numerous reports of Pfister and his coach leaving the hotel which suggest he is indeed quitting. one possibility is that this could turn out to be a ruse by Pfister (either in conjunction with the TFF or unilaterally) to try and get the players in line. the TFF press conference will clear things up more i guess.
Here's an article with qutoes from the TFF http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fblwc2006togcoach&prov=afp&type=lgns Here's another article that says the players boycotted three closed door training sessions b/c of pay issues so he had no basis to work with and quit. http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-worldtogocoach&prov=reuters&type=lgns According to the second article, he blames the TFF and not the players but also says that there is no chance of him returning.
You hit it on the head yimmy. Psister is more unhappy with the Togo Football Federation than the players, and i'm thinking that's where the blame should lie as well. And most of the players don't play in top european leagues so they probably don't earn a decent paycheck, although I admit I have no idea what a Togo player playing in Togo's top league would earn. The problem is that the players want bonuses just like all the other players playing in the World Cup but Togo is such a poor country that they can't afford what some other countries are oaying their players. However, here's something to think about, I was hearing that each football federation receives something like 5 million dollars for playing their 3 group games, plus another amount of money just for qualifying for the World Cup. Could this money go to the players? Maybe the federation is corrupt and wants to keep all the money for themselves. I'm really just throwing stuff out here off the top of my head. Any thoughts?
What? An African team in dissarray at a WC? That can't be...!!! Score another one for the shoddy and corrupt African FA's... This is the reason why Pele's dream won't come true. Its also the reason that most Africans aren't reaping the rewards of their vast natural resources.
Put it this way; it wouldn't be the first time someone has resigned in Africa citing similar problems. The BBC documentary on Congo and their team was outstanding. The physio had to keep the bonus money to himself and distribute to the players individually in their rooms, so it won't get *ahem* mislaid. We all know where that supposed $5m will go...
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-worldtogopfister&prov=reuters&type=lgns it looks like otto's coming back.