Fécafoot: net tightens around Samuel Eto'o as CAS rulings weaken his position

Samuel Eto’o finds himself caught up in fresh turmoil, just days after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced it had opened an investigation into him. Having been in charge of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fécafoot) for barely twenty months, the football icon is going through a string of legal setbacks that are casting a shadow over his tenure.

A decisive CAS ruling

On 21 November 2022, Guibaï Gatama, a suspended member of the Fécafoot executive committee under Samuel Eto'o's leadership, together with other figures in local football, brought a case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Their aim was to have the resolutions passed at the Fécafoot general assembly of 27 August 2022 declared invalid. Those resolutions had endorsed a number of measures, including the suspension of Kouedem François as president of the Western Regional League, the removal of Guibaï Gatama from the executive committee, the election of new members of the judicial commissions and the dissolution of the Professional Football League of Cameroon (LFPC).

After nine months of hearings, CAS delivered its verdict on 15 August 2023: "the Court of Arbitration for Sport, ruling after hearing both sides (…) declares that the resolutions adopted at the general assembly of the Cameroonian Football Federation of 27 August 2022 are null and void". In short, the CAS decision overturns the disputed resolutions of the body led by Samuel Eto'o, reinstating Guibaï Gatama on the Fécafoot executive committee and François Kouedem as head of the Western Regional League. It also confirms the reversal of the LFPC's dissolution and reinstates all the judicial bodies elected in August 2021, whose mandates had been revoked.

The reactions...

Samuel Eto’o's entourage reacted swiftly, saying their camp is calm. By contrast, the satisfaction on the complainants' side is plain to see. Guibaï Gatama expressed his delight, stressing that CAS had upheld their claims. "I welcome the triumph of the law and the reaffirmation of respect for the Statutes and Regulations as the cornerstone of sporting governance, which people in football have long been calling for", he said.

Towards a vacancy in the presidency?

The CAS filing also gave the complainants an opportunity to raise the question of a vacancy in the Fécafoot presidency, because of Samuel Eto’o's 20-month prison sentence in Spain for tax fraud in June 2022. However, the arbitration panel ruled that, in the absence of a decision on the matter by the Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) of Fécafoot, the conditions for declaring a vacancy had not been met. The responsibility for establishing any such vacancy was therefore referred back to a Fécafoot EGA.

The Editorial Team