Tragedy at the Africa Cup of Nations

Story Updated Below

Stunning news from Angola on the eve of the kickoff of the Africa Cup of Nations. Gunmen, almost certainly rebels, opened fire with machine guns on a bus carrying Togo’s national football team to the province of Cabinda from its training ground in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). The bus driver is reported to have been killed, and while he may have been the only fatality, many players and support staff were injured and understandably the event has been psychologically devastating.

The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) has claimed credit for the attack. FLEC has fought for Cabindan independence pretty much since Angola entered into its own deeply troubled post-colonial phase, but a ceasefire had been in place since 2006. Cabinda, which is geographically separated from the rest of Angola by the tiny swath of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) that juts out into the Atlantic, is occasionally even listed on some maps as being “contested territory.”

The tournament is expected to go forward as scheduled, though Togo is likely to withdraw (its first game is scheduled to be against Ghana on Monday). Angolan officials say they will increase security significantly.

I understand that the games must go on. And hosting this tournament means a great deal to Angola. But given that  FLEC has promised more attacks to come, is it not at least prudent to move the games to be held there? I realize that having Cabinda host some of the games was intended to give the region a sense of ownership. And there is a pretty sound argument to be made that to yield now would be to allow the terrorists to win. But I am not certain that visiting football teams should serve as the human wall for that fundamentally political and perhaps strategic stance.

And let me pre-empt a question that some will inevitably raise: This attack has no more to do with South Africa hosting the World Cup than an attack in Mexico City would have to do with the United States hosting an international sporting event. (And the US is contiguous with Mexico; the vast country of Namibia sits between South Africa and Angola.)

The CAF (Confederation of African Football) tournament is always fraught with nationalist and geopolitical implications. This one, though, suddenly has taken on a tragic subtext that bears watching closely.

Story Update: It appears now that at least three and possibly four died in the attack, including the bus driver, Togo assistant coach Abalo Ametele and press officer Stan Ocloo. Togo’s striker Jonathan Ayite has confirmed that the reserve-team goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale had died of his injuries but there have been some contradictions as to whether this is the case. Togo has withdrawn from the Cup of Nations.