Togo will compete in the next African Cup of Nations in 2012 after having their ban lifted with immediate effect.
The decision to reinstate Togo was confirmed, as expected, by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive at a meeting in Cairo, Egypt.
CAF banned Togo after the Hawks pulled out of the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola following a deadly attack on their bus.
The Togo National Team
CAF were furious that the decision to leave the tournament was taken not by the team but their government in Lome.
The Togolese were then suspended and excluded from the next two Nations Cup tournaments in 2012 and 2014.
But Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter subsequently stepping in to mediate.
A statement on the CAF website read: “The Executive Committee of the African Confederation of Football in its meeting held in Cairo on Friday, at the request of President Issa Hayatou decided to lift the suspension preventing Togo from playing in the upcoming Cup of Nations.
“Following the lifting of the sanction, Togo is now reintegrated in the preliminaries of the African Cup of Nations 2012.”
CAF has yet to release details of how they will draft into Togo into the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers.—BBC
