Kanoute attacked by crowd after Mali game
Monday, 15 October 2007 15:02Confederation of African Football (CAF) is to discuss attacks on Mali players Frederic Kanoute and Mamady Sidibe that followed the 2-0 away win over Togo in their decisive African Nations Cup qualifier in Lome.
CAF said it would look into the reports of violent attacks on players and supporters after the Group Nine match, which saw Mali win a place at next January's Nations Cup finals at the expense of their Togolese hosts.
CAF have placed the match officials's reports on the agenda of its organising committee meeting scheduled for Accra, Ghana on Thursday.
Spanish-based striker Kanoute and Stoke City's Sidibe were both attacked at the end of the game and suffered injuries, according to Mali officials.
Sidibe was cut on the arm after an attack by a spectator while Kanoute was kicked in the legs.
Mali coach Jean Francois Jodar told the French newspaper L'Equipe at the weekend: 'It was like a battle field. The players had to seek safety in the change room and there was blood everywhere.'
Mali Football federation president Salif Keita added 15 supporters were injured after being attacked at the end of the match. Togo reports said several were hospitalised in Lome.
The incident mirrored similar scenes in the Malian capital Bamako two years ago, when Togo won 2-1 away in a 2006 World Cup qualifier.
The match between the two countries then had to be abandoned and rioting spread into the city, where shops and cars were burnt and some 30 people arrested. Mali were later banned from using the stadium.
