Volleyball: Cameroon defy the FIVB
FIVB: Cameroon faces a sanction from the international federation (the source prints ‘1e’). One of the Cameroonian federation's two factions has elected its president.
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Cameroonian volleyball faces the threat of suspension. For now, however, the International Volleyball Federation's (FIVB) warning will not stop those involved in the crisis at the Cameroonian Volleyball Federation (Fécavolley).
Despite the FIVB's warning, the two rival general assemblies are determined to complete their respective elections. The 2013 assembly, presented as the legal and legitimate body and supported by the Sports Ministry, elected an executive committee on 21 January. The 88 members present chose Bello Bourdane as president.
The FIVB's threat brushed aside
The outgoing leadership, meanwhile, denounces a "non-statutory general assembly" and an "illegal process". Serge Abouem's team has announced its election for 4 February. Yet in a letter signed on 19 January, the FIVB director general informed the Cameroonian federation that holding several elections through different assemblies is "liable to lead to the federation’s suspension".
World volleyball's governing body asked Cameroon to postpone the elections while it and the African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) check Fécavolley's statutes and membership list "to ensure that everyone entitled to participate can do so". Those instructions appear to have fallen on deaf ears at the Cameroonian Volleyball Federation.
Arthur WANDJI