Following a heated clash with Samuel Eto’o, Marc Brys has been abruptly relieved of his duties as the Cameroon manager, a role he assumed just in April without overseeing a single match.
The decision came swiftly after the altercation between Brys and the president of the Cameroon football federation, Samuel Eto’o.
In response to this development, Martin Ndtoungou has been appointed as the interim coach of the Indomitable Lions following an emergency meeting convened by Fecafoot’s executive committee.
This episode adds to the ongoing chaos surrounding Cameroon football, marked by tensions between Eto’o and Brys, which escalated during a preparatory meeting ahead of the team’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers in June.
Notably, Brys’ appointment had stirred controversy within Fecafoot, as it was made without consulting the federation.
Moreover, Eto’o has faced accusations of match-fixing, incitement of violence, and making threats, allegations that were forwarded to FIFA’s Ethics Committee.
A statement from Fecafoot has confirmed the news and stated Brys has been replaced due to “inappropriate behaviour” and “disrespectful comments”.
Brys also stands accused of “an outright refusal to collaborate“.
In a meeting held on Monday, former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o submitted his resignation to the Cameroon FA Executive Committee.
He urged them to follow suit and resign as well.
However, the committee rejected his request and expressed their confidence in his leadership to continue as president.
This decision came in the wake of the Indomitable Lions’ disappointing exit from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, where they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Nigeria in the round of 16.
Since assuming the role of Cameroon FA President, Eto’o has faced mounting pressure, with various controversies emerging during his tenure.
Read the full statement from the Cameroon FA Executive Committee below:
A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Cameroon Football Federation was held this Monday, February 5th, at the Hilton Hotel in Yaoundé.
The agenda focused on assessing the performance of the men’s national team at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire.
At the beginning of the meeting, the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, Mr. Eto’o Fils Samuel, tendered his resignation to the members of the executive body, urging them to do the same with a clear conscience.
Following discussions and subsequent deliberation, the members of the Executive Committee decided to continue their current mandates.
Unanimously, they rejected the resignation of the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, expressing renewed confidence in him to carry on the work of rebuilding and developing Cameroonian football from the grassroots to the top, as outlined in his acclaimed project during the elective General Assembly on December 11, 2021.
Samuel Eto’o has been called upon to step down as president of the Cameroonian football federation due to “grave irregularities” in the institution, according to a coalition of amateur clubs in the country.
The Amateur Clubs’ Association of Cameroon (ACFAC) voted 11-1 last week to request the four-time African Footballer of the Year to resign.
It is reported that the 42-year-old, who has played for a number of top clubs in Europe, should step down “if he still loves Cameroonian football, as he has always claimed.”
ACFAC requested the Cameroon sports minister to step in and raised the prospect of approaching Fifa president Gianni Infantino for similar assistance.
Among its list of concerns, ACFAC said the decision to change the Fecafoot president’s mandate from four to seven years was both anti-statutory and illegal. It also highlighted the lack of publication of new statutes adopted last August.
There were also questions to answer, it said, about Eto’o’s decision to take an ambassadorial role with a sports betting company, which could be in violation of both Fifa and Fecafoot rules.
Fifa says people bound by its code “shall be forbidden from participating in, either directly or indirectly, betting, gambling, lotteries or similar events or transactions related to football matches or competitions and/or any related football activities”.
Football’s world governing body mentions a sanction of either a fine or ban from football for any violation of its ethics code regarding connections to betting and gambling, with any “direct or indirect financial interest” outlawed. It is unclear if Eto’o is personally profiting from his involvement with the company.
In late June, top-flight Cameroonian club UMS de Loum asked Fecafoot to investigate the matter, and also raised it with both Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf).
Fecafoot has signed a deal with the same betting company to sponsor both the men’s and women’s international teams, as well as the top two divisions of the country’s football league.
In a statement issued at the time, the federation said the deal had been agreed in compliance with all ethical codes and was furtherproof of Eto’o’s drive to “modernise” Cameroonian football.
ACFAC also claimed in its statement that unnamed individuals in Fecafoot are manipulating matches in order to successfully bet on their outcomes.
The BBC invited Fecafoot to comment on the nature of ACFAC’s claims about the organisation and its president, but has received no response.
Former Barcelona footballer and current president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT)Samuel Eto’o, could potentially face legal consequences for allegedly neglecting to provide his daughter, Erika de Rosario Nieves, with a monthly allowance of €1,400 for the past five years.
Last February, a Madrid court officially recognized Eto’o as Nieves’ biological father and ordered him to pay a monthly child support allowance.
However, it has been reported that Eto’o has not fulfilled this obligation over the past five years, resulting in an accumulated debt of nearly €90,000.
Nieves’ lawyer, Fernando Osuna, has confirmed the outstanding amount owed.
Osuna said, per El Diario de Sevilla and quoted by Daily Post: “He owes more than five years of pension to his daughter and continues to defy justice. Erika’s economy is fragile, while Eto’o lives in luxury.”
The lawyer even suggested the Cameroonian’s alleged failure to pay child support could constitute an ‘abuse of power’, while not complying with a court order may even result in jail time for Eto’o if the court deems it necessary.
Nieves’ mother’s lawsuit against Eto’o
The lawsuit is also said to have revealed that Eto’o told Nieves’ mother, Adileusa, that he would ‘act responsibly with respect to the common child’ despite his preference that she ‘did not give birth’.
However, according to the details of the case, the retired Cameroonian striker allegedly began avoiding the woman’s attempts to discuss their child’s upbringing and also cut off all communication.
In 1999, Adileusa gave birth to Nieves at the Alarcon Foundation Hospital in Madrid, with the circumstances of their relationship and the birth of their child forming a key part of the legal proceedings.
Eto’o declared father of Erika
In a related publication, Sports Brief reported that FECAFOOT President, Eto’o was declared the biological father of a 24-year-old woman by a court in Madrid.
The final verdict was reached on February 17, marking the culmination of a legal process initiated back in 2018 and which reached its shocking conclusion.
Sam Eto’o, the head of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), has announced intentions to build 12 stadiums across the nation.
The goal of the extensive construction of football facilities, according to Eto’o, is to “give everyone an opportunity.”
In December 2021, the former FC Barcelona striker took over as head of the Cameroon FA and made sure that the Indomitable Lions qualified for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
He has now promised that stadiums will be built across several Cameroon cities in a bid to hunt for more talent.
Actu Cameroun reports that the project is about to begin as the implementation phase is already on course.
For the chairman of the said commission, Samuel Eto’o, thinks that talents are hidden in areas where quality sports infrastructure is non-existent.
“Samuel Eto’o wants to give everyone the opportunity to be able to play football “, summed up Daniel Mongue Nyamsi.
Eto’o inducted into Inter Milan Hall of Fame
Meanwhile, time African footballer of the yearSamuel Eto’o has expressed his gratitude following his induction into the Inter Milan Hall of Fame.
The 40-year-old footballer turned administrator, together with a host of other Inter Milan icons, were inducted into the 2021 edition of the Hall of Fame.’
Eto’o joined the Blue and Blacks in a swap deal with Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the latter heading to Barcelona in 2009 on the back of a treble-winning campaign with Guardiola’s all-conquering Blaugrana.
A new age fraud scandal has hit Cameroon after 21 members of their Under-17 team were banned due to the problem.
President Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon football federation was eager to get rid of the issue, so the federation called 44 players from eight different clubs for an investigation into possible age or identity fraud back in the summer.
But after the majority of the players chosen for this year’s UNIFACC tournament, which was played by the Under-17 teams of Central African Football Federations’ Union countries, were disqualified after failing MRI tests, Eto’o has been dealt another setback in his attempt to stop their age fraud crisis.
‘They were immediately removed from the group. Steps were immediately taken for their replacement.
‘This action is the result of strict instructions given by the President of FECAFOOT acting under the mandate of the COMEX, in order to put an end to the tampering with civil status records which have, in the past, tarnished the image of the apex body of the Cameroon football. FECAFOOT urges all actors, in particular educators, to ensure that the ages by category are respected.’
This year, an age-group competition was announced by the Cameroon Football Federation.
The exams scan the player’s wrists and measure the growth of their bones to establish their age.
For concealing the list of chosen players for both their Under-20 and Under-17 teams, Cameroon has recently come under fire.
Concerns have also been raised over their roster for the 2019 African Nations Championships, as an official list of players has not to be made available before their first match on January 16.
African football has always struggled with age fraud, with claims of overage players clouding several of their youth level international victories.
Although accusations have been made frequently, it appears that the authorities have not made many efforts to look into them.
The president of the Cameroon Football Federation Samuel Eto’o took to social media to give his predictions for the FIFA World Cup™ before the tournament kicked off, with the former Indomitable Lions legend saying that Africa would be front and centre and tipping a rather unexpected final between his own Cameroon and Walid Regragui’s Morocco.
Was this merely a way of provoking a reaction or did he really believe in what he said? Either way, the one-time Barcelona striker captured the boundless optimism and ambition of Cameroon at this World Cup that even a 1-0 opening-match loss to the Swiss has done little to dampen.
“We’ve got work to do and there are still six points up for grabs,” said a defiant Nicolas Nkoulou after the final whistle against Switzerland. “We’re going to take on board what happened during this game and come back all guns blazing for the remaining matches.”
Switzerland v Cameroon | Group G | FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ | HighlightsSwitzerland v Cameroon | Group G | FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ | Highlights
Watch the highlights from the match between Switzerlandand Cameroon played at Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakra on Thursday, 24 November 2022.Watch the highlights from the match between Switzerland and Cameroon played at Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakra on Thursday, 24 November 2022.
When they emerged from the team bus at the Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday, the Cameroon squad were already a tight-knit group, singing, dancing, clapping in rhythm and reminding everyone that the World Cup is first and foremost a celebration of the beautiful game.
And while they were not celebrating after losing their tournament opener, Cameroon were by far and away the least downhearted of the teams who came up short in their first match. Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, for example, was all smiles in the mixed zone. Whilst he was obviously not delighted with the result, he has the necessary lucidity to analyse what had happened.
Despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives to be taken out of the game for Cameroon in their build-up play and he was also magnanimous enough to be happy for his friend Breel Embolo.
“We wanted to play a high line and press them, win the ball back and get forward quickly,” added team-mate Jean-Pierre Nsame, who was an unused substitute but was already looking ahead as to how to improve his team’s game.
As they search for their first World Cup win since 2002, Cameroon have an unflagging sense of optimism, and they are one of the rare squads capable of giving off positive vibes even when the going gets tough. Coach Rigobert Song encapsulated this mindset in his post-match press conference, opting to look to the future rather than dwelling on the defeat they had just suffered.
“The second game’s where we’re going to come into our own, I reckon,” he said of their clash with Serbia on Monday. “I think my players will show a different side to themselves”.
When they return to the Al Janoub Stadium, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and his fellow Lions will no doubt be as positive and enthusiastic as they were when they got off the bus before the opening match, buoyed by their seemingly never-ending reserves of hope. After all, for decades now on the world’s biggest stage, the Cameroon motto has been ‘never say die’.
Cameroonian Football Federation President, Samuel Eto‘o believes African nations will make an impact at the 2022 World Cup.
Africa’s best performance at the Mundial is playing in the quarterfinal with any country yet to win the prestigious trophy.
Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, Cameroon, and Tunisia will represent Africa at the 22nd edition of the Mundial.
However, the legendary Cameroonian striker believes that an African nation is ready to win the World Cup.
The former Barcelona and Inter Milan forward hinted that Cameroon can win the ultimate.
“Africa has always had the potential to achieve a successful World Cup, but we haven’t always shown our best face up to now,” he told ESPN.
“During the years, African teams have acquired more and more experience, and I think they’re ready not only to participate in a World Cup but also to win it.
“Cameroun will win the World Cup final against Morocco,” he added.
The World Cup will start from 20th November to 18th December 2022.
Legendary Cameroonian footballer Samuel Eto‘o selected three-time African Player of the Year Abedi Pele as his favorite Ghanaian player of all time.
The legendary Ghanaian player took African and European football by storm in the late 80’s and early nineties, helping Marseille win the UEFA Champions League in 1993.
Abedi Pele became the first player to win the African Player of the Year three times on a row, from 1991 to 1993, and was a member of the Black Stars team that won Ghana’s last AFCON in 1982.
Although, Eto’o likes the likes of Michael Essien and Asamoah Gyan, Abedi Pele tops his list of favourite Ghanaian footballers.
“Abedi Pele, one of the best ever,” Eto’o said on TV3, when asked about Ghanaian players.
Samuel Eto’o is in Ghana for ambassadorial work, following his role as Qatar Legacy Ambassador for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ghana is one of the five countries representing Africa at the Mundial in November.
