Togolese coach suspended over fake match Published duration 20 September 2010

image caption The Togolese football authority had no knowledge of the game against Bahrain

A former coach of Togo's national football team has been suspended for three years after hosting a fake match in Bahrain earlier this month.

Togo's football federation said Tchanile Bana organised a friendly game in Riffa, which was played without the sports body being informed.

A group of players pretending to be the national team lost the match 3-0.

Mr Bana had already been suspended for two years for hosting a fake match against Egypt in July.

"The organisation, the preparation and supervision of the match were planned by [assistant coach] Tchanile Bana" without approval, the football federation said in a statement.

Antoine Folly, a member of the disciplinary commission, said that others responsible for the scam must also face action.

"Full light must be thrown on the Bahrain affair in order to unmask and impose sanctions on his accomplices operating within the Togo Football Federation," he said.

Togo's football authorities began investigating after reports of a game against Bahrain, staged at the national stadium in Riffa on 7 September.

'Very boring'

The country's sports minister said no-one in Togo had been informed of the game.

Bahrain Football Association (BFA) said it had arranged the match through all the usual procedures, through an agent that they had known for several years.

Bahrain's head coach, Josef Hickersberger, told the Gulf Daily News that the match had been a wasted opportunity for the team to practise before the West Asian championships, which begin on 24 September.

"They were not fit enough to play 90 minutes - the match was very boring," he said.

"Basically it was not good for us because we wanted to get information about the strength of our team, especially playing with many of our professionals."

Mr Bana, who was Togo's head coach in 2000 and 2004, received a two-year ban last month for taking a team to Egypt in July without permission.