Togo's government is sticking by its decision to recall the national football team from the African Nations Cup after a deadly attack, despite the players' wish to play, a government minister said Sunday.

"The government is maintaining its decision to call the team back home," administration minister and government spokesman Pascal Bodjona told AFP.

 
 Hours before the competition started on Sunday, players said they wanted to stay in Angola.
"In memory of the dead, the national team has decided to play in the African Nations Cup," said Thomas Dossevi, who plays for French side Nantes.
 
"Best not to stay"
 
But Bodjona said "the best thing to do is not to stay". The Togo national football side will play in the African Nations Cup, one of the players, Thomas Dossevi told AFP on Sunday, despite an earlier decision to pull out and even going against Togo's government decision to call the team back home.
 

Hooded gunmen opened fire on the teams' buses on Friday as they crossed into the restive Angolan enclave of Cabinda, killing the assistant coach and squad spokesman.
 
The attack was claimed by a faction of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) separatist group embroiled in a struggle for independence in the oil-rich territory.

Source: AFP