FECAFOOT & judicial bodies: true love affair continuing under Eto’o
By Stephen TADAHA
Before the arrival of the former Indomitable Lion’s Captain Samuel Eto’o on December 11 2021 at the helm of the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT, the body had been rocked by multiple judicial battles. That was the case from the time of Iya Mohammed in the years 2000, through the normalization committee of Joseph Owona in 2013, to Tombi A Roko Sidiki in 2015 to the normalization committee of Dieudonne Happi in 2017, and then to Eto’o’s predecessor, Seidou Mbombo Njoya from 2018-2021.
When Eto’o took the reigns, many predicted the end of judicial battles that had been killing Cameroon’s football on the field. Contrary to what many predicted, Eto’o’s government has failed to keep the federation out of courts.
Here are some judicial battles that have featured since Eto’o took office:
April 14, 2022
The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) confirms the agreement between FECAFOOT and Maboang Kessack who had been pointing out some irregularities in the previous FECAFOOT electoral process.
May 26, 2022
CAS rejects FECAFOOT’S appeal in the case opposing them to Astres of Douala who were unjustly relegated by the Professional Football League in 2019. FECAFOOT is asked to pay the sum of FCFA 80 million to the Douala based club for compensation.
June 9, 2022
Some members of the 2009 General Assembly agree to withdraw their complaints from the CAS in favor of Samuel Eto’o but others do not.
August 23, 2022
CAS confirms the deal between members of the 2009 General Assembly and Samuel Eto’o, meaning his is the legal president.
November 3, 2022
December 15, 2022
FECAFOOT announces that the Swiss Federal Court has rejected an appeal against a CAS ruling, putting an end to issues concerning the 2009 General Assembly.
May 11, 2023
CAS rejects an appeal injected by FECAFOOT concerning the dismissal of former Head Coach Antonio Conceiçao and confirms a first decision taken by FIFA meaning FECAFOOT is subjected to pay a compensation of over FCFA 1 billion to the Portuguese coach.
June 8, 2023
The Confederation of African Football (CAF)’s appeal committee declares admissible, the appeal filed by the Gabon Football Federation to cancel the decision that qualifies Cameroon for the 2023 under 23 AFCON- a decision that was previously taken by the disciplinary committee of CAF.
June 6, 2023
CAS rejects an appeal filed by Cameroon to take part in the 2023 U23 AFCON.
August 15, 2023
CAS nullifies decision number 15 taken by the General Assembly of FECAFOOT.
With so many decisions taken by CAS and putting the federation in a fragile situation, the number of people signing petitions for Eto’o to step down has increased but the federation remains vehement: only an election will remove Eto’o from his position.
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