Togo's Prime Minister Gilbert Huongbo has denied the country want to re-enter the African Nations Cup.
Togo pulled out of the tournament in Angola after a gun attack on their team bus left three people dead last Friday.
There have been numerous conflicting reports since concerning the team's continued participation in the event, and the latest remarks from Huongbo add to the confusion.
The country's sports minister Christophe Tchao was quoted this morning saying a formal request had been made to return after a three-day period of mourning.
But Huongbo told Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Radio 5live: "I do believe there is confusion. The information you have got, I'm afraid, might not be the most accurate.
"We have simply withdrawn our team, it is not a matter of withdrawing for the mourning period.
"The information that has been circulated on some websites saying the players are just back for three days' mourning and will then go back playing is quite wrong.
"We withdrew our team on the basis they have been the victim of a terrorist attack."
Huongbo has also hit out at the way Togo has been treated by the organisers of the tournament, the Confederation of African Football.
Huongbo insists the decision to withdraw was not made in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, but after support from CAF proved non-forthcoming.
He added: "Management did not give us enough assurance. We would leave our team being exposed to similar risks. Therefore we deciced to pull our team out of the competition against our will.
"We will have hoped that one can have serene discussion with the host country, with the Confederation, to assess what has happened, assess what one has to do.
"We received no co-operation from the Confederation in terms of any kind of assessment.
"Our analysis is that they want it [the shooting] to be seen as a non-event and the show must go on as planned; there mustn't be an official change and Togo is causing problems to the festival."
The Togo team returned to their home country yesterday after apparently agonising over whether to stay in Angola or not.
At first they were reportedly keen to leave but then considered staying on after a team meeting.
In the end, the decision was made for them by their government and Huongbo says there was no option.
He said: "What if something happened again? What is our responsibility? It is a matter of taking seriously the safety of our people.
"It is not my pleasure we withdraw, we don't want to play into the hands of the terrorists, but we have a responsibility to protect our people."
Angolan police today announced they had arrested two people in relation to the attack.
Prosecutors in the troubled Cabinda province where the shooting took place said two members of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda forces, or FLEC, were captured yesterday.