Volleyball: two organising committees in place, is the 2023 Nations Cup under threat?
Fécavolley: three months before the women's volleyball African Nations Cup, a leadership battle is raging inside the Cameroonian federation.
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Julien Serge Abouem is refusing to back down. The former president of the Cameroonian Volleyball Federation (Fécavolley) is still fighting to have his successor's election declared invalid. The former Cameroonian official has now referred the matter to the sport's international governing body (FIVB). He is demanding the minutes of the vote that put Bello Bourdanne in charge of Fécavolley on 20 January 2023. In his view, the election is illegal. Mr Abouem has warned the FIVB that he will instruct a Swiss law firm in the coming days to defend his rights.
Threat to the 2023 Nations Cup
This latest episode in the leadership crisis rocking Fécavolley is a constant threat to the staging in Cameroon of the next Women's Volleyball Africa Nations Cup (6 to 18 August 2023). And in this clan warfare, anything goes. On 24 March 2023, the former Fécavolley executive wrote to the Cameroonian Prime Minister seeking the "non-validation of the organisation" of the competition. One of the arguments put forward was that the current executive allegedly has no standing to represent the Federation and Cameroon internationally.
Two organising committees
The request sent to the head of the Cameroonian government was, however, kicked into touch. Worse still, a few days later head of state Paul Biya gave his approval for the tournament to be held on Cameroonian soil. Since then, the crisis within Fécavolley has dragged on, with two camps battling over the organisation of the next big event in women's volleyball. Two separate organising committees have even been set up already. They are the "Working Group" appointed by the former Fécavolley president on 22 April 2023, and the organising committee established by the Sports Minister on 9 May.
The government's warning
The ministry overseeing Cameroonian sports federations insists that Fécavolley has only one president, and that he is Bello Bourdanne. His election was ratified by the government, then recognised by the Cameroon National Olympic and Sports Committee, and finally approved by the African Confederation and the International Volleyball Federation.
Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi therefore condemns the actions of the Abouem camp, accused of waging an "insidious and malicious media campaign", whose approach "amounts to an unacceptable sham and usurpation of title". It is worth recalling that Cameroon are three-time reigning African champions in women's volleyball.
Arthur Wandji