Commonwealth Games 2026: Cameroon already haunted by its old demons

The Cameroonian delegation had not yet truly kicked off its campaign at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow before already suffering a major setback. Three boxers initially selected to represent the country were ultimately excluded from the competition even before stepping into the ring. They are Fotouo Totap Junior, Baguiguna A Beb Georges, and Bindzi Ongbibou Mireille Noelle. While no official statement has been issued by the Cameroonian sports authorities to explain this eviction, the reasons originate far from the Scottish boxing rings.

An exclusion decided behind the scenes

According to information gathered by Sport News Africa, the removal of the three pugilists is directly linked to the governance crisis shaking the Cameroonian Boxing Federation (Fécaboxe) for nearly four years. At the heart of the issue is World Boxing’s refusal to recognize the federation’s current executive board. The world boxing body is said to have sent an official letter to the Commonwealth Games organizing committee requesting the exclusion of Cameroonian boxers, considering that their participation had not been validated by leaders it considers legitimate.

“The athletes are paying the price for a conflict beyond their control. Everything was ready for their participation, but World Boxing’s decision came before their debut. It is an enormous frustration for them as well as the entire delegation,” confides a member of the Cameroonian delegation's staff present in Glasgow. Therefore, this exclusion reduces the Cameroonian delegation from 24 to 21 athletes and deprives the country of a sport that has long been one of its main sources of medals on the international stage.

Never-ending crisis

This new international setback is the result of an ongoing crisis at the Cameroonian Boxing Federation since the start of the electoral process in December 2022. Tensions increased in 2023 around the candidacy of outgoing president Bertrand Mendouga, contested by some stakeholders in the sport who denounced his accumulation of duties with the presidency of the African Boxing Confederation, which he held at that time. In response to the deadlock, Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi successively set up a Provisional Management Committee, then, in January 2026, a normalization committee tasked with restoring dialogue, organizing consensual elections, and rebuilding the federation’s credibility within six months.

Despite these initiatives, internal divisions persist. Leadership struggles, rivalries between officials, and challenges to the legitimacy of managing bodies continue to fuel chronic instability. It is precisely this lack of recognized governance that led World Boxing not to validate the Cameroonian representatives for Glasgow. “When a federation loses credibility with international bodies, it is never the officials who are the first to be punished. It is always the athletes. Once again, Cameroon gives the impression of a country where administrative conflicts end up neutralizing the performances of its athletes,” analyzes a Cameroonian sports journalist, for whom, “the Boxing Federation is today paying for years of administrative stagnation.”

This withdrawal now forces Cameroon to revise its ambitions. Until August 2, medal hopes rest mainly on weightlifting, judo, and athletics. Champion of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in the under 109 kg, weightlifter Junior Periclex Ngadja Nyabeyeu appears to be one of the best medal prospects. Emmanuel Eseme in the 100 meters, Richelle Anita Soppi Mbella in judo, as well as representatives in para athletics and para powerlifting will also carry the hopes of a delegation deprived of a historically successful discipline.