A group of Cameroonian officials is exerting pressure on FIFA to remove former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o from his position due to multiple controversial incidents linked to him.
In a letter addressed to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe, the group questions Eto’o’s continued leadership at FECAFOOT, alleging that he has “illegally” asserted control over the organisation.
CAF had initiated an investigation into Eto’o’s alleged improper conduct in August following leaked audio implicating him in a match-fixing scandal, despite his denials.
Eto’o had claimed he was conversing with a friend who invests in football and expressed that he “would have done everything possible to avoid any refereeing errors against him.”
According to the group’s letter, which includes figures like Pierre Semengue, President of the Professional Football League of Cameroon, and former FECAFOOT Vice-President Henry Njalla Quan Junior, the lack of action taken against Eto’o “lies at the very heart of football’s issues of integrity, ethics, and fair play.”
The letter also references Eto’o’s suspended prison sentence in a tax fraud case, asserting that, according to FECAFOOT’s statutes, he should have relinquished his role after the ruling.
Additionally, it mentions an incident in which Eto’o kneeled a man in the face during the World Cup in Qatar, captured on video.
Eto’o’s partnership with sports betting company 1XBET is another point of contention in the letter, alleging that it constitutes a “flagrant violation” of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
Pointing to the Spanish Football Federation’s (RFEF) swift attempts to remove Luis Rubiales as president following his kiss on Jenni Hermoso after the Women’s World Cup, the letter challenges world football’s governing body, saying: “Not a word has been heard from FIFA despite numerous complaints and reminders from Cameroonian football actors.
“How can FIFA continue to remain silent in the face of so many scandals that compromise public confidence in sporting ethics and the sincerity of matches?”
It continued: “The sad reality of this two-speed management of almost identical situations is that Africa remains a kind of enclave where you can take liberties with the ethics and exemplarity that sports leaders should embody,” the letter says.
“Can you imagine FIFA and UEFA remaining silent when the president of a European football federation is suspected of match-fixing, with audio recordings to back it up?
“Can you imagine FIFA and UEFA keeping quiet while the president of a European soccer federation signed a personal ambassadorship contract with a sports betting operator?”