Fifa intervened today to persuade Togo's players not to boycott their World Cup game with Switzerland as unrest simmers in the Togolese camp.

The squad was on its way to Dortmund where Togo will play their second Group G match against Switzerland tomorrow. The players had initially stayed in their base in southern Germany while they discussed a long-running pay dispute.

"As far as we understand the team did not want to play," a Fifa spokesman said.

"The Fifa delegate there told them it would be extremely serious. He told them to be reasonable and they were," the spokesman said, adding the team were now on the road.

No team that has qualified for a World Cup finals has withdrawn from a match in the 76-year history of the event. Any nation doing so face a heavy fine and could be banned from subsequent competitions.

"We are on the bus now," coach Otto Pfister said. "I think they have found a solution but I don't know what it is and I don't want to know."

The Togolese, beaten 2-1 by South Korea in their opening match on their World Cup debut, did not leave their base in Wangen in time to catch their scheduled morning flight to Dortmund. Instead players held crisis meetings with officials
over the pay row.

The dispute had prompted Pfister, a German, to walk out just before the tournament, saying it made it impossible for him to do his job. He returned just in time for the first match.

Players from the tiny West African country have demanded €155,000 each to play and €30,000 for each win, half that for each draw. But officials from the country have said those demands are too high.