Togo coach Otto Pfister has left the World Cup and has been replaced until further notice by his former assistant Kodjovi Mawuena, Togo team official Messan Attolou told Agence France-Presse on Saturday.
”Otto Pfister has left for Switzerland and his assistant Piet Hamberg has also left the team,” Attolou said.
”Is Kodjovi Mawuena going to be the new coach on a permanent basis? We will see. Otto Pfister has not given us a definitive ‘no’ yet,” he added.
Togo, who are playing in their first World Cup, take on South Korea in their first Group G match in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
The head of communications for Fifa, Markus Siegler, said the world governing body had not received official confirmation that Pfister had quit the West African team.
He said coaches could be replaced during the tournament because they were not covered by the same strict rules as players.
”The situation for players is clear, but the rules do not apply to coaches,” Siegler told a press conference.
Pfister, a 68-year-old German, had reportedly grown disillusioned over a dispute over match bonuses for the Togo players.
He guided the Ghana Under-17 team to the world title in 1991 and the senior side to the 1992 African Nations Cup final where they lost on penalties, and had only taken up the Togo job after Stephen Keshi was sacked following their first-round exit in the African Nations Cup finals in February.
Eight years ago Pfister successfully guided Saudi Arabia to the World Cup in France but was sacked just before the tournament. — AFP
