Togo leave for Egypt

Togo's squad have left for the African Cup of Nations after settling a row over bonus money.

The national squad was supposed to leave the Togolese capital Lome to fly to Egypt on Tuesday night but the Hawks never got off the ground as they wrangled with the federation over money.

The players were seeking a bonus of around US$40,000 per person and having been paid half of their money, they have agreed to leave for Cairo.

"They were asking for the money for qualifying for the African Cup of Nations - as some kind of morale booster," Togo coach Stephen Keshi told BBC Sport.

Although the coach tried to play down the row as 'no big deal', he did admit it had affected his team's warm-up for Egypt 2006.

"The bonus crisis has affected the focus of my players for the past two days," he said on Tuesday.

Togo's first game in Group B is on Saturday against the DR Congo, they will then play Cameroon and Angola.

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