Togo officially withdrew, there are rumors that the reserve goalkeeper is dead.

so sad to see this ***** happen, for gods sake i just hate when people by any reason (politics, religion, etc) attack a group of persons that has nothing to do with the problem, and sad also that the authorities arent doing anything about it, obv that isnt a safe place and at least they should be relocated, the "we are taking care of the teams" is just bs since obv pro soccer players dont feel ok playing and training like they are in the middle of a war they arent part of, im just mad at how this ****** ruin the game

Team asked to be let back in after a 3-day mourning period but were turned down. I understand it's a total pain on the schedule and to some it might seem they're pulling some weird Brett Favre flip-flopping type stuff. But I truly think they should let them back in. Can't blame them for having a pretty tough time of things emotionally after watching 3 people die right in front of them (two whom they knew) while others were injured.

It would make the whole tournament look good in many ways and would garner them extra publicity around the world. Other teams I would assume would be somewhat understanding of their situation and the schedule re-juggling. Totally appropriate to find a way to let them back in. Even if they made Togo play 3 matches in 3 or 4 days or something silly it would be worth it.

I agree with you in spirit, but it's very very unfair to the other teams to ask them to play a bunch of matches back to back. To ask them to cram two or three games in a row together before playing knockout stages of a major international competition was never going to happen (nor should it have).

That's like if some tragedy happened to an NFC team during NFL playoffs and someone suggested "Well, why don't they just play the Divisional round on Friday and the NFC Championship game on Sunday" (obv extreme example but you get the idea). Would ruin the integrity of the event, especially if the AFC teams (or to go back to soccer, teams not in Togo's group) were unaffected.

And all this to say nothing of the fact that some of these guys are professional soccer players playing for clubs that pay them millions of dollars and are in the middle of their season (and cup competitions). Actually, never mind, that's an argument in your favor. It would be great fun to watch EPL managers go ballistic when Drogba, Essien, Song, Kalou, Toure et al were trying to play 3 international games in 5 days.