DORTMUND, Germany -- A long-running pay dispute that threatened to mar Togo's
first trip to the World Cup was settled Sunday after FIFA intervened to persuade
the players to stop a planned boycott of a crucial match against Switzerland.
"It's settled. It's finished," midfielder Thomas Dossevi said. "We are now
going to concentrate on soccer."
He said that FIFA had underwritten guarantees by the Togolese federation that
the players would receive bonus pay they had long been asking for.
FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said soccer's world governing body was forced
to act after reports the players did not want to board a plane from their
training base in southern Germany to the central city of Dortmund ahead of
Monday's Group G match against Switzerland.
"There were rumors that they did not want to travel and play tomorrow,"
Herren said. "This prompted us to open all contact channels to them to appeal to
them to think of their responsibility to football and themselves and their
country.
"It was a bit of a to and fro in the morning."
He said "various levels" of FIFA delegates were involved in the negotiations,
advising the players, "if you don't travel, it could be the worst thing you
could do."
Coach Otto Pfister also said an agreement had been reached to end the
dispute, though he became irritated when asked about the situation.
"I'm not an administrator, I'm not a banker," he said. "I'm a soccer coach."
Herren said if Togo had boycotted the match, it would have been disqualified
from the World Cup and faced further sanctions from FIFA's disciplinary
committee.
"As long as they travel, which I believe they have done, I think it's OK,"
Herren said.
No team has ever boycotted a World Cup match since the tournament began in
1930.
The players, most contracted to small European clubs, wanted $200,000 each to
play in the tournament, plus $39,000 each per win and $20,000 per draw. While
each team is guaranteed $5.7 million from FIFA just for playing in the World
Cup, the average income in the coffee-and-yam-growing West African nation is
less than $400 per year.
Players refused to give details of the compromise.
"We are satisfied," Dossevi said.
Togo was beaten 2-1 by South Korea in its opening match last week. The
Togolese are playing for World Cup survival against Switzerland.
The lowest-ranked team in the tournament, Togo has caused some of the biggest
headlines because of the off-field dramas.
Coach Pfister quit the team three days before the first match against South
Korea, saying he could not work properly if players kept boycotting training.
Pfister only rejoined his team hours before the opening match.
Pfister is now considering legal action against a senior Togolese federation
official who accused him of being a drunkard and a traitor. The 68-year-old
German says he doesn't touch alcohol.
