Togo team that played Bahrain was fake

A mysterious Togo squad played a friendly match against Bahrain in Manama on Tuesday,according to L’Equipe. The game,won 3-0 by Bahrain,even appeared on FIFA’s website,but the Togolese football federation (FTF) stated the players who had faced the Bahraini national team were not from Togo.

According to Europe 1,a fake footballer’s agent,whose name or nationality is not yet known,sold the match to Bahrain,who are preparing for the Asian championships. But the feeble performance of squad during the friendly had stunned members of the Bahraini Football Association (BFA),who only found out the truth after the game.

“The very bad game of the ‘Togolese’ players surprised us,but then to discover that we had been dealing with a fake team was incredible,” said a member of the BFA.

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Togo’s Sports Minister Christophe Tchao told Jeune Afrique that nobody back home was aware of the encounter. “We will conduct investigations to uncover all those involved in this case,” he said.

The real Togolese national team played Botswana last Saturday in Gaborone during the first round of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches,which they lost 2-1.