FECAFOOT UNDER SEVERE TENSION FROM THE GOVERNMENT

The signing of the contract with the equipment supplier of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon remains unclear. The buses heralded by the media are nowhere to be found.

On Tuesday 27th February 2024, the joint committee of the Presidency of the Republic and the Prime Minister’s Office set up by Paul Biya had its work cut out for it. Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), Rigobert Song, the manager and coach of the Indomitable Lions, and other executives from Cameroon’s football governing body were questioned at the star building.

During the hearings, the government asked the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) for a copy of the contract with equipment supplier One All Sports. In November 2022, Samuel Eto’o told Canal 2 International that the new equipment supplier for Cameroon’s national football teams had agreed to pay FECAFOOT the sum of 1 billion CFA francs per year. A total of 3 billion FCFA by the end of the 3-year contract.

The report of the government enquiry, including the choice of coach for the Indomitable Lions, will be submitted to the Head of State on Friday 1st  March 2024.

This sum was more than double the amount offered by French equipment manufacturer Le Coq Sportif.

Coq Sportif revealed in a recent lawsuit against Fecafoot in France that it was paying 750,000 euros (491.28 million CFA francs) a year to Cameroon’s football governing body.

Samuel Eto’o added that the partnership with One All Sports also included the supply of equipment worth one million euros (FCFA 655.04 million) a year for the national teams and a VIP bus for the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, the country’s flagship team. All this from 2023.

Here we are in 2024, and no Cameroonian can see the shadow of the bus. For the time being, the hearings are continuing at the Prime Minister’s office. The report of the government enquiry, including the choice of coach for the Indomitable Lions, will be forwarded to the Head of State on Friday 1st March 2024.

Delia Nyadi