Is a “curse” responsible for the poor performance of the Togolese national football team?

Since their only appearance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and their first qualification for the quarter-finals of the 2013 AFCON in South Africa, the Togolese national team’s results appear to be on a downward spiral. With hopes now pinned on new coach Daré Nibombé, appointed on July 15, many Togolese are turning to higher powers to break what they widely view as a “curse”.

In Togo, many claim, as Doctor Frédéric Edoh, a historian of African civilizations, explained, that the repeated defeats of the Éperviers – the nickname of the national team – were due to the restlessness of those who lost their lives for the team: the victims of the helicopter crash in Lungi, Sierra Leone, in June 2007 (which killed 13 team staff) and the deaths in Angola in January 2010 in an attack on the national team bus (two team staff were killed).

For followers of this faith, explained the historian, “the souls of these deceased wander and have not yet found true rest in the world of their ancestors.” “Rituals are needed to appease them and invite them to support Togolese football,” continues Edoh.

For others, according to the expert, these poor performances are due to the failure to clean the Kégué Stadium in Lomé (the main stadium of the national team) and the unresolved problems in Togolese football. In particular, the infamous “Moustapha Bodé affair,” named after a spiritualist to whom the national football association allegedly owed money for spiritual services. Dissatisfied with not being paid, he is said to have cursed the Éperviers, who still hovered over them.

Rituals… and defeats

“In the collective socio-religious mindset of the Togolese, as in other parts of Africa, it is believed that there is an inextricable connection between magical-spiritual forces and sporting disciplines,” the scientist noted. He added that “a team’s victory or an athlete’s good performance in a competition is not only the result of the athletes’ physical abilities or expertise, but also the goodwill of deities or spiritual preparations in advance.” Therefore, “consult Clubs and athletes use fortune tellers to find out what measures to take before sporting confrontations.”

For this reason, when preparing for matches, the Togolese football team supplemented their technical preparation with traditional rituals to ward off bad luck. However, the intended effect did not materialize: on October 14th, the Éperviers suffered another home defeat against the Algerian Fennecs (0-1), who had already suffered a crushing 1-5 defeat in Algiers a few days earlier.

While Petro Amouzougan-Goudjo, an IT specialist in Lomé, believes that “prayer can influence football,” he also clarified that “prayer alone is not enough to ensure victory; Talent and hard work are needed first and foremost.” Similarly, Marc Kangni-Dossou, civil engineer and member of the Legion of Mary, claimed that “prayers can play an important role in game preparation, for example by praying for players to be protected from injury However, “it cannot guarantee victory,” warned the football-loving Catholic, who advocated a holistic approach as a prerequisite for sporting success.

“Football is a whole,” he explained, “because several factors contribute to victory, such as physical, technical, tactical, psychological, spiritual and coaching parameters.” This devout follower of the Virgin Mary emphasized the need for specialists, “the players like that to condition them to form a well-prepared team in which talent, cohesion, solidarity and self-confidence are promoted.”

The sports enthusiast made a convincing argument that rituals alone are not enough to ensure victory: “If prayers and purifications were enough to win, Benin, the birthplace of voodoo, would have won the World Cup several times already.”