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Cameroon-Hugo Broos: "It's not a good start for Brys".

 

Appointed Cameroon coach by the Minister of Sports, Marc Brys has not been recognized by the Cameroon Football Federation (Fécafoot). An imbroglio which does not allow the technician to work in the best conditions. As his compatriot Hugo Broos, former coach of the Indomitable Lions, acknowledges. "After the poor results at the last African Cup, the problems between Eto'o and the Ministry got worse. In principle, the ministry alone cannot decide who will be the national coach. It always has to go through the federation. So, in a way, Eto'o's anger is understandable. In any case, it's not a good start for Brys,"Hugo Broos tells the daily HLN.

He continues: "And in any case, the work isn't easy over there. In Cameroon, there are 23 million coaches.Everyone has their own opinion on matters concerning the national team. The Minister of Sport comes to talk to the team before every match, in the morning, saying that we have to win. The pressure is always immense.

Hugo Broos then tackled Eto'o: " Interference in Cameroon comes from all sides.As a coach, you have to resist it. When someone like Eto'o gets so involved, there are conflicts. I heard that at the last African Cup, he arrived at the hotel in the morning and took over the coach's duties just like that. I'll show you how it's done", he said. That's not a healthy situation .

Cameroon: The government's tough response to Samuel Eto'o

While the President of the Cameroon Football Federation is opposed to the recruitment of the Indomitable Lions' new technical staff, the Minister of Sport is adamant that the State has no intention of negotiating with Fécafoot.

The dispute between the Cameroon government and the Cameroon Football Federation(Fécafoot) is taking a sharp turn for the worse. In a letter dated April 5, 2024, Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi clearly set out the legal basis for the government's decision to appoint Marc Brys as the new coach of the Indomitable Lions. The decision, taken in accordance with the directives of Head of State Paul Biya, is aimed at revitalizing the national soccer team following performances deemed unsatisfactory since Samuel Eto'o's election as head of Fécafoot.

Fécafoot has proposed 3 candidates

The Minister invokes article 9 of the agreement signed with the Federation on February 5, 2015, which according to him, grants the State the competence to recruit and make available coaches for the national selections. "Members of the coaching structures for the national teams are recruited either on the basis of a contract signed with the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, after compulsory advice from the Minister in charge of sports, or on the basis of being made available by the State", the Minister recalled, implying that Fécafoot, as part of this process, has nevertheless contributed by proposing candidates to succeed Rigobert Song.

Exorbitant salary demands

The problem, according to Mouelle Kombi, was that the candidates presented salary demands that had never been paid to a coach of the Indomitable Lions." The three applications submitted by you each made exorbitant salary demands, ranging from around 1 billion FCFA (1,500,000 euros) to 1.6 billion FCFA (2,500,000 euros) a year in remuneration (excluding various bonuses), i.e. an average of 82 million FCFA to 132 million FCFA a month respectively. This represents excessive amounts ", writes the Minister to Samuel Eto'o.

In addition, he added, "your demand that financial and logistical resources be made available two weeks before the candidates put forward by Fécafoot were due to take up their duties made it difficult to support their salary demands, not to say dissuade them from doing so, given the State's current severe budgetary constraints ".

Despite the disagreements, the Minister insisted that the State had assumed its responsibilities as "owner of the Indomitable Lions". Mouelle Kombi is adamant that the State intends to move forward with the process "in view of the imminence of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. "We would like to inform you that the Ministry of Sport has already taken all the necessary, appropriate and useful measures [...] for the new coach to take up his duties", the Minister asserted. This correspondence marks a new stage in the conflict between the government and Fécafoot, highlighting the differences of opinion and growing tensions between the two entities.

Cameroon: Fécafoot disowns Marc Brys hours after appointment

On Tuesday April 02, Marc Brys was appointed Cameroon coach to replace Rigobert Song, who was sacked after the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. The problem is, however, that he was signed by the Ministry of Sport, without the approval of the Cameroon Football Federation. While he was looking forward to his first experience as a coach, the Belgian was turned down by Fécafoot. The body headed by Samuel Eto'o disowned the technician, who had been chosen exclusively by the ministry."In spite of our diligent proposals and after a fruitless wait, we were instructed to contract a new coach, his assistants, medical and administrative staff, like the General Coordinator of national soccer teams, whose recruitment is, moreover, an exclusive competence of Fecafoot according to article 4 of the above-mentioned decree", reads the communiqué published this Wednesday evening, 24 hours after Brys' appointment.

"Not having been involved in any way in the pre-selection process for the positions to be filled, and referring to the provisions of the aforementioned decree and the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, the Cameroon Football Federation did not participate in the recruitment process for personnel appointed to the technical, administrative and medical staff of our national teams. The national federation cannot recognize these appointments, which were made outside any legal or regulatory framework. In absolute terms, Fecafoot cannot be a party to this act, which is devoid of any legal basis, and cannot compromise with supra-national regulations and, even less, with the legal and regulatory provisions in force in our country", continues Fecafoot. No doubt this turn of events will keep the whole of Cameroon on its toes.

 

 

Cameroon: Samuel Eto'o and the government at loggerheads

 

There is total incomprehension in Cameroon following the appointment of Marc Brys as the new coach of the Indomitable Lions. Fécafoot, headed by Samuel Eto'o, denounces a unilateral decision taken by the state authorities.

Are we heading straight for a major soccer crisis in Cameroon?Very probably. While Samuel Eto'o, elected president of the Cameroon Football Federation in December 2021, is facing a number of internal challenges, another has just been opened up on Tuesday April 2 with the appointment of a new coach. The appointment of Marc Brys to replace Rigobert Song is not going down well within the Federation. And understandably so. Cameroon's soccer governing body was apparently not consulted on the choice of the Belgian coach from 61. Yet it is the Federation itself that has the prerogative to appoint a coach. In a press release, the Fécafoot denounced the decision.

"The Cameroon Football Federation has learned, at the same time as all Cameroonians, the appointment to positions of responsibility within the National Senior Selection of men's soccer. Fécafoot expresses its great astonishment at this act, which runs counter to the terms of Decree N°2014/384 of July 26, 2014 on the organization and functioning of national soccer teams," says the body headed by Samuel Eto'o.

Fécafoot clearly has no intention of stopping at this statement of indignation. "This unilateral decision comes at a time when Fécafoot has agreed to follow the instructions of the President of the Republic by collaborating openly with a view to achieving a calm that will benefit the future of our beloved Indomitable Lions. FECAFOOT intends to shed light on this regrettable situation, and will communicate without delay on the reaction it intends to reserve," writes the Cameroon Football Federation.

The consequences for Cameroonian soccer could be dire if Fécafoot and the state authorities fail to reach an agreement.

FIFA could sanction Cameroon for government interference and suspend the Indomitable Lions from all competitions. And finally, set up a normalization committee as in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This may well be the hidden agenda of certain state authorities seeking to get rid of Samuel Eto'o.

Le Havre: Why Cameroon should go for Etienne Youté Kinkoué

Back in Ligue 1, Le Havre combines experienced players with high-potential youngsters. In the latter category is Etienne Youté Kinkoué. The 22-year-old defender is enjoying a meteoric rise. This could give Cameroon and France ideas for calling him up to the national team...

Etienne Youté Kinkoué is undergoing a rapid learning curve. In his first season in Ligue 1, the 22-year-old central defender is a permanent fixture. As proof, he has played 17 games for Le Havre this season in the French top flight, all of them as a starter. Add to that 2 starts in 2 matches in the Coupe de France. And what's more impressive is that in the league, he played in all the matches in which he took part. On the bench at the start of the season, he played his first minutes against Lille (October 1). Then, after three games on the bench, he was back in the starting line-up against Toulouse (2-1 win, November 05). And since then, he's simply been immovable.

Etienne Youté Kinkoué is a handsome baby of 1.95 m and 91 kg. What's more, he combines above-average physical and technical qualities. This makes him one of Le Havre's key launchpads.Trained at Troyes, the young central defender quickly made his mark abroad. His first port of call was Italy, where he signed for Inter Milan (2019-2021). However, he didn't play a single game for the senior team, but did play around 60 games for the reserves. Then came Olympiakos, who offered him his first professional contract. After a season and a half, however, he only played games for the reserves. In January 2023, Le Havre came calling.France's oldest club allowed him to make his professional debut in France, playing 5 matches in Ligue 2, including 2 as a regular in the 2nd half of the 2022-2023 season. It was an opportunity for him to hone his skills and win the French second division title. Before blossoming in the 2023-2024 season.

A successful conversion

Etienne Youté Kinkoué's success as a central defender is perhaps due to his ability to read the intentions of strikers. After all, he too was a striker in his younger days."I started out as a striker and gradually dropped back. I became a midfielder and then a central defender at around 13-14 years of age. It was my coaches who forced me to move back, but in the end it was logical. In the beginning, they made me play up front because I was tall and they sent me long balls. I liked that because, thanks to my size, I often scored. But I'm not going to lie, technically it wasn't like that (smile).So I backed off and then, by playing one game after another at the back, I got used to it."Virgil Van Djik also went through the same process...The young Franco-Cameroonian's performances have not gone unnoticed. Salzburg and Frankfurt have already expressed an interest in him and in England, West Ham are keen to sign him.

Cameroon must seize the opportunity

Cameroon, which is experiencing a generational dip, needs talent to build its team of the future. Etienne Youté Kinkoué's profile and age make him a prime target for the Indomitable Lions. Even if Jean-Charles Castelletto and Christopher Wooh are talented, the fact remains that Cameroonian soccer has been looking for a defensive leader for some time now.

From Raymond Kalla to Nicolas Nkoulou, via Emmanuel Kundé and Rigobert Song, every Cameroonian team that has shone and won the AFCON has needed an immense defender at the back and at a time when nuggets are increasingly opting for African teams rather than European ones, hopes are high of snatching Etienne Youté Kikoue from the clutches of France, where he has already pulled on the U17 jersey.

 

CAS: A new front opens against Samuel Eto'o in Switzerland

While awaiting the results of the investigation against him by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) into alleged match-fixing in the Cameroonian championship, the president of Fécafoot is once again playing for his future at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

In Cameroon, soccer is synonymous with the courts.And with time, Samuel Eto'o has learned to live with it. With his ambition to "restore Cameroonian soccer to its former greatness" by putting the athlete back at the heart of the game and at the heart of all issues, the road to achieving this goal is increasingly strewn with obstacles for the President of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fécafoot). While polemics and scandals involving him and others have become commonplace, the threat to his mandate is just as real and frequent. Indeed, the days (or weeks) ahead are likely to be particularly decisive for the four-time African Footballer of the Year.

"Denial of justice

According to certain indiscretions, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is on the verge of releasing the results of its investigation into the former Barcelona star, who is suspected of match-fixing in his country's league. And while a wave of fear is blowing through the Fécafoot, Samuel Eto'o's opponents have once again appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) "due to a denial of justice", according to Delphine Deschenaux-Rochat, advisor to the Lausanne-based body, in a letter sent to the Fécafoot on March 20.

 

Towards Eto'o's suspension?

The fifty or so plaintiffs, made up of clubs, managers, the Cameroon Professional Football League (Lfpc), journalist Guibaï Gatama and a suspended member of the Fécafoot Executive Committee, intend to request that Samuel Eto'o be suspended from his duties and from all football-related activities. Thirteen members of the Fécafoot Executive Committee are also included in the statement of appeal filed with CAS on March 15. "The plaintiffs accuse Samuel Eto'o not only of having violated several articles of the Fécafoot Code of Ethics relating to integrity and abuse of office for private purposes or to gain pecuniary advantage, but also of the provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to sports betting and gambling activities", whispers a source with knowledge of the case.

Further on, we learn that his opponents wish to ask CAS to "order Eto'o to reimburse Fécafoot, from his own funds, all expenses incurred as a result of the improper termination of contracts between Fécafoot and Antonio Conceiçao, on the one hand, and Fécafoot and Le Coq Sportif, on the other". In the first case, Fécafoot was ordered to pay a fine of 1.6 million euros (over 1 billion FCFA) to the Portuguese coach, while the fine could be higher in the second case.

Cameroon: From AFCON 2017 to 2023, André Onana... Fabrice Ondoa speaks out

Fabrice Ondoa is only 28 years old, but the Cameroonian goalkeeper has had a most curious career. But each time the Indomitable Lions have called on him, he has excelled himself. The goalkeeper looks back on his career, the AFCON 2023 and the André Onana episode.

Trained at FC Barcelona, Fabrice Ondoa was seen at the start of his career as a worthy successor to Cameroon's line of great goalkeepers, including Joseph-Antoine Bell and Carlos Kameni.Indeed, the keeper lived up to all expectations at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, with an XXL tournament that saw the Indomitable Lions claim the trophy, and Ondoa (49 caps) was named the tournament's best keeper.However, what followed did not go according to plan for the former La Masia resident. A spell with Seville B, Ostend, Alaves, Istra, Auda, Nîmes, and even a season without a club in 2022-2023. A career that the 28-year-old goalkeeper fully embraces.

"I've gained a lot of experience. I'd say it's a bit tumultuous.Maybe it wasn't what I would have chosen, but I wanted it. I take responsibility for my choices. I've always made my choices in relation to Cameroon. When I chose a club, I wanted to know their position on the Indomitable Lions. I had the opportunity to talk to several good clubs, but knowing that their first-choice goalkeeper could be away for several months for the African Cup of Nations scared them off. It was inconceivable for me not to be able to go. That's why I chose my clubs," says Fabrice Ondoa in an interview with Foot Mercato.

2017, the best memory

Despite his struggles at club level, Fabrice Ondoa's finest moment came with the Indomitable Lions: victory at the 2017 African Cup of Nations.A competition that holds a special place in his memory."It's the best moment of my career because I put everything into this competition. There was a real sacrifice behind this tournament. I'd just signed for Sevilla and the directors put me in the B team because they knew that the AFCON was coming up and that I couldn't be a starter. I understood that if I started, I wouldn't be going to the AFCON, so I preferred to sit on the bench. When I arrived at the tournament, I told myself that I'd sacrificed my season for the AFCON. On top of that, I'd just lost the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, where Cameroon were favourites. We had a top team but we missed out despite qualifying well. That served us well for 2017 and it was a double challenge for me. Collective and personal."

"Despite the elimination, the group has created a state of mind".

From then on, however, things took a turn for the worse.From the 2020-2021 season onwards, Fabrice Ondoa spent months without a club. A situation that undermined his status with the national team. Meanwhile, his cousin André Onana was gaining ground and becoming number 1. However, Ondoa was called up for the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, but he insists that it was he himself who declined the invitation. He felt that a player without a club could not add any value to the team. Back for the AFCON 2023, the goalkeeper beat Onana on the final day of the group phase and in the round of 16. Despite the early elimination against Nigeria, the former Barcelona man believes the group has grown."I think Cameroon has gained something. Despite the elimination, the group has created a state of mind and real team cohesion.It's a young group and many of them took part in their first AFCON. There have been quite a few extra-sportive issues that have marred the cohesion. We, the leaders, will have time to discuss this internally. There's been far too much extra-sporting."

His relationship with Onana

Naturally, Fabrice Ondoa didn't escape questions about André Onana, who arrived on the day Cameroon kicked off their AFCON campaign against Guinea.We have to ask ourselves the right questions. Who gave him permission?Who allowed a player to arrive in the early hours of the morning before a competition to play? In hindsight, I wonder but during the competition, we had to concentrate on our tournament but now, we haven't yet had the time to work out these kinds of issues. The group really needs to know what happened with André Onana. A player doesn't arrive at this point if he hasn't had permission from so-and-so."

Fabrice Ondoa continues."These are things to be eradicated afterwards because it's totally unthinkable and these are things to be resolved over the long term.We're going to discuss it.We'll have to dig out the abscess, because like you, we still don't know the ins and outs of this story".Nonetheless, Ondoa sets the record straight on his relationship with Onana, his cousin, which he says is as good as new. "Nothing has changed with André. Our relationship is as good as ever. As we say, 27 players come to the AFCON and they all have to be ready to play if need be. From the youngest, Nathan Douala, to Aboubakar Vincent."

Nathan Doualla affair: "Bardelli is his brother" says Victoria United chairman

At the heart of a media storm following his exclusion from the Cameroonian league play-offs, along with 61 other players, due to an alleged double identity, Wilfried Nathan Doualla sees the evidence piling up against him. The latest of these was in a report by Le Monde Afrique, which interviewed him in 2022, when he said his name was Alexandre Bardelli and he was 21 years old. A far cry from his current age of 17. In the face of all these accusations, the president of his club Victoria United came to the defense of the midfielder.

For Nkwain Valentine, all this is a false case because Nathan Doualla and Alexandre Bardelli are not the same person. "Concerning the Nathan Doualla case that everyone is talking about, it's not him that you saw (on the Monde Afrique video) but it's his brother," said the team executive. "It's Nathan Doualla's brother, but not him. It's Bardelli, not Nathan Doualla, and that's what the federation found out."The latter did not, however, justify how the brothers have exactly the same tattoos, as well as the same scars on the same body parts.

AFCON 2025: Wilfried Nathan Doualla the "phenomenon" threatening Cameroon's participation

Wilfried Nathan Doualla, a member of Cameroon's squad for the African Cup of Nations in Côte d'Ivoire in January, has been suspected by Fécafoot for "double identity". This sanction has serious consequences for the Indomitable Lions' participation in the next AFCON.

An event shook up the world of Cameroonian soccer on March 10, 2024. No, it wasn't the celebration of Samuel Eto'o's 43rd birthday. Rather, it was the publication of a list of 62 players suspended by the national federation. One of the names on this list has caught the eye: Wilfried Nathan Doualla. The midfielder of Victoria United, a club in the local first division championship, was nabbed for "double identity".The news quickly spread around the world. Could it be otherwise?

 

Wilfried Nathan Douala is not a player like the others. He is the youngest footballer to have taken part in the last African Cup of Nations in Côte d'Ivoire.On paper, that is. After all, on his data sheet, the man many Cameroonians have hailed as a "crack" is only... 17. And yet, in January 2022, the newspaper Le Monde met and photographed a player who bore an uncanny resemblance to him. His name: Alexandre Bardelli Doualla. Age: 21. But the tattoos on the legs and arms of both, and a scar above the right eye "prove that it's the same man", concludes Le Monde. Like Fécafoot, no doubt.

Eto'o crusades against age fraud

Wilfried Nathan's club has lodged a complaint with Fécafoot.Victoria United maintains that Nathan does not have a double identity "as the Federation claims". The spokesman for the president of Fécafoot, on the other hand, has long been clear: "Mr Eto'o's main hobbyhorse is civil status.We no longer want to see a 25-year-old playing for the U17s", Ernest Obama recently hammered home on a local TV channel. Still, the "Wilfried Nathan Doualla affair" is causing indignation among the Cameroonian press.

"Fécafoot has been used to scandals for two years now but this is a new level. The player in question has a license issued by Fécafoot at the start of the season. He played in the championship. He even went to the AFCON 2023. Now, three months later, Fécafoot realizes that he has a double identity", asks Caristan Isseri.

Risk of disqualification for AFCON 2025

For this Cameroonian journalist based in France, the culprit is obvious: "The administration under Samuel Eto'o is either inconsistent or incompetent. It's healthy to want to clean up the civil registry, but the problem should have been tackled at the start of the season". All the more so as Cameroon's participation in the AFCON 2025 is now in serious jeopardy as a result of this affair.

Articles 45 and 46 of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations regulations stipulate that any association found guilty of "fraud and/or falsification of documents by any means and/or medium whatsoever" in the previous competition will be eliminated from the next two AFCONs. Article 47 stipulates that: "For any administrative error in player registration, the national association concerned shall be suspended from participation in the next edition of the AFCON, and its team shall be eliminated from the competition if it is still in progress".

Cameroon - Natan Douala: Damning revelations by Le Monde on identity and age fraud

Caught in the crossfire, his world could soon be crumbling. With his name in the headlines since Monday's announcement of the suspension of 62 players in the Cameroonian league due to administrative problems, notably double identities, Wilfried Nathan Douala may find it difficult to explain his situation. The youngest player at the AFCON 2023 in Côte d'Ivoire, the Victoria United midfielder had not played a single match, but had made headlines, creating debate about his age.

Officially aged 17, the player was pinpointed in a report by Le Monde Afrique. The media outlet used its archives to track down the player, whom a journalist had interviewed and photographed in 2022. At the time, Wilfried Nathan Douala was playing for the Oryx club and said his name was Alexandre Bardelli. At the time still, he said he was 21 years old. Relying on other elements found on his various social networks, his tattoos and scars at the time, as well as recognition software, the media concluded that it was indeed the same person, who had changed identity and age in the meantime.

 

Alerted by Le Monde Afrique prior to the AFCON, the Cameroon Football Federation declined to comment on the matter. The matter is likely to become a hot potato for the federation, as Cameroon could face sanctions for selecting a player with a false identity, up to and including suspension from the next two editions of the AFCON. This would certainly be a major blow for the Indomitable Lions. All this for a player who didn't played a single second of the entire competition.

The video report by Le Monde