Fecafoot: Cameroonian football on the brink?

In Cameroon, football is reeling under a wave of protests. On the eve of the second half of the professional league season, referees are threatening a general strike from Monday 21 April 2025. The cause: unpaid allowances going back four seasons (2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2025 and 2024-2025).

In a letter to Fecafoot president Samuel Eto’o, the Cameroonian Association of Football Referees demands the immediate payment of 300 million CFA francs. "Our return to the various competitions will depend on this substantial debt being settled", writes their national president. And he warns: "No payment, no matches."

The threat is all the more serious because the referees have formally referred the matter to the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic (SGPR). In their letter, they point out that the State had made 350 million CFA francs available to Fecafoot to support the running of the 2024-2025 leagues, and that part of that sum was supposed to go towards clearing part of what they are owed. "Unless the higher authorities advise otherwise, it would be desirable for this situation to be given proper consideration", they plead, calling for intervention at the highest level of the State to prevent the national fixture calendar from collapsing.

Clubs pull out

And as if that were not enough, the protest has spread to the clubs themselves. After Djiko FC, it is Bamboutos de Mbouda who have announced their outright withdrawal from the top-flight league. The club denounces an accumulation of "financial and sporting damage" that has ended up destroying any desire to continue the season. In a letter dated 16 April 2025, Bamboutos' chairman of the board points to a debt of 90 million CFA francs left unpaid by Fecafoot.

Read also: Fecafoot: Samuel Eto’o, an increasingly isolated president (?)

In detail, this comprises: 50 million CFA francs for the winners' bonus for the 2022-2023 Super Cup; 25 million CFA francs for the bonus for finishing as Cameroon runners-up in 2023; 15 million CFA francs for the bonus for reaching the 2022 Cameroon Cup final. "Not to mention our share of the sponsorship bonus and the payment to our club of the sum representing 50% of gate receipts", the club demands.

Beyond these unpaid sums, the club openly accuses the federation of manipulation and of undermining sporting fairness: "The officials constantly distort the results of our matches, with immediate effects on our league position", the letter reads. Bamboutos speak of "unprecedented harassment" against them and sound the alarm over "a logic of self-destruction in Cameroonian football".

Fecafoot hit back

Responding to this dramatic decision, Fecafoot immediately hit back in an aggressive statement. It describes the Mbouda club's accusations as "disinformation", "manipulation" and "sabotage". According to the federation, all subsidies were distributed transparently, and Bamboutos simply failed to provide the required documents. "The relevant departments are still waiting for the supporting documents, notably proof of payment of the players' salaries, in order to finalise the transfer order to the said club", it says.

Never since Samuel Eto’o became Fecafoot president has the home of Cameroonian football looked so close to imploding. Rebellious clubs, referees on the verge of striking, widespread disillusionment... The dream of a renewal driven by the former Indomitable Lions captain still seems a long, long way from becoming reality.