Togo coach Otto Pfister insists he does not have the power to quell the mutiny in the ranks of his team who are threatening to boycott today's Group G match with Switzerland.

It is a game he admits the World Cup debutants must win if they are to stand a realistic chance of progressing to the last 16.

But just getting Togo to Dortmund for the match has been a feat in itself - it required stick and carrot treatment with FIFA threatening serious consequences if the team did not make the trip, and the African country's federation officials assuring the players they will receive their promised qualification bonuses.

However, captain Jean-Paul Abalo confirmed on Sunday night that the team would only decide on the day of the game whether to fulfil the fixture.

Pfister did his best to concentrate on the match at the Westfalenstadion.

"We are going to play Switzerland in a match where a win is not enough for either side," said Pfister at a press conference.

"A team that does not win tomorrow will find it very difficult to qualify for the next round - it applies for both teams.

"That's what we are preparing for, it's our best chance and we are in the right mood."

Pfister was then assailed with questions about the pay issue and the coach clearly laid the blame at the door of the Togolese federation.

"We will see tomorrow if it affects the team," said Pfister, who resigned in frustration before the World Cup before returning to his job for the Sparrowhawks' opening 2-1 defeat by South Korea in Frankfurt.

"You must ask the Togo Football Federation these questions, not me. Football is my job. I am not responsible for how much the players are paid," said the coach.

"I cannot be held responsible for money matters, okay?

"If I did I would go mad. I do my job, I coach football - you must ask the Togo Football Federation these questions."

Abalo, speaking minutes after Pfister, made it clear that the game was still very much in doubt.

"We will decide tomorrow," Abalo said on Sunday night.

"We want to see the money in our accounts - it's the group (of players) that decides.

"This will be the decision of the whole squad - not just one player."

Abalo claimed that the dispute was not about bonuses for performances in Germany but the bonus they were promised for reaching the finals.

"(It is) just the bonuses for qualifying," he said.

"We have not seen any money yet. We reached an agreement in principle with the (Togo) Football Federation this morning. Now we must wait and see."

FIFA had earlier threatened Togo's players that they would take an extremely dim view if they did not board the plane for Dortmund - which the players eventually did.

A FIFA spokesman, speaking before Abalo's remarks on Sunday evening, said: "There were some problems with the team not wanting to travel and our local co-ordinator contacted them and said if they did not do so it would be a very serious matter, so they agreed to play the match."

As if Pfister did not have enough headaches, he must also make at least two changes to the team which lost to Korea with Abalo suspended after being sent off in that match and Ludovic Assemoassa facing six months out with cruciate ligament damage.