FIFA: Samuel Eto'o denounces "unjust sanction"
Banned for six months by FIFA on Monday, Samuel Eto'o responded on Tuesday by saying he reserves the right to pursue every available avenue of appeal
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Banned for six months by FIFA on Monday, Samuel Eto'o has responded by saying he reserves the right to pursue every available avenue of appeal to clear his name.
"The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (FECAFOOT), Samuel Eto’o, with a ban from attending matches of Cameroon's representative teams for a period of six months, for breaching articles 13 (Offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play) and 14 (Misconduct of players and officials) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. The ban imposed on Mr Eto’o will prevent him from attending men's and women's football matches involving FECAFOOT representative teams, in all categories or age groups", FIFA announced on 30 September.
Samuel Eto'o hits back
The events Eto'o is accused of date back to 11 September 2024 and Cameroon's 1-3 defeat to Brazil in the round of 16 of the Women's U-20 World Cup. FIFA has not gone into detail about those events, but it is reported that the Fecafoot president allegedly behaved badly towards the match officials. On Tuesday 1 October 2024, Samuel Eto'o insisted, through his federation, that he had simply played his part, which is to defend Cameroon's interests.
Read also: FIFA: Samuel Eto'o, a 6-month suspension
"During the aforementioned match, obvious refereeing errors were seen worldwide by all the spectators and television viewers who watched the game live or on their screens. By way of illustration, the Brazilian side's equaliser was tainted by undeniable irregularities. It is important to recall that during the match between Cameroon and Colombia, officiated by the same referee, a clear penalty was curiously denied to the Cameroonian side. At the end of the Brazil-Cameroon match, the FECAFOOT president, who was at the stadium, simply drew the officials' attention to these errors, which regrettably distorted the results of both matches for Cameroon", Fecafoot explained in a statement.
Consequently, "the Cameroonian Football Federation says it is astonished by this sanction and denounces it in the strongest terms. Samuel Eto’o reserves the right to pursue the available avenues of appeal in order to see justice restored in this matter", it added.