FIFA GUARANTEES TOGO PAYMENTS TO ENSURE NO FURTHER TROUBLE

FIFA headed off further World Cup boycott threats from Togo by agreeing to pay players' bonuses directly as a cash advance.

After intervening to ensure Togo played its second match against Switzerland, soccer's governing body mediated a settlement between the players and the Togo federation to ensure the buildup to its last match against France is not overshadowed by the long-running dispute.

The allocations are normally paid to national associations after the tournament.

"It is in the form of an advance to Togo, so the situation should now be left to calm down," FIFA communications director Markus Siegler said Tuesday. "I want to make clear, it is not FIFA that is playing this.

"The matter is closed ... hopefully Togo will not create any further headlines with this."

Togo is out of contention after losses to South Korea and Switzerland, but the players wanted assurances that the Togo association would honor its promise to pay them bonuses before the last match against France at Cologne on Friday.

Each team is guaranteed 7 million Swiss francs (US$5.7 million, Ç4.5 million) from FIFA for playing in the World Cup.

The players, most of whom play on small European clubs, had been seeking Ç158,000 (US$200,000) each - or Ç3.6 million (US$4.6 million) - to play in the tournament, plus Ç30,800 (US$39,000) each per win and Ç15,800 (US$20,000) per draw.

The government and soccer federation had originally offered the equivalent of Ç46,000 (US$58,000).

Neither the players, the Togo federation nor Siegler would confirm how much the players would be paid.

At the weekend, the squad traveled to Dortmund only after FIFA stepped in and warned that if the team boycotted Sunday's training and Monday's match against Switzerland it would be disqualified from the World Cup and face further sanctions from the disciplinary committee.

No team has ever boycotted a World Cup match since the tournament began in 1930.

Although admitting the Togo dispute was not good for the image of the World Cup, Siegler said he did not expect any disciplinary action against the national association because it had fulfilled all of the tournament conditions for traveling and playing.