15, May 2024
FECAFOOT and lucrative appointments: it’s not over till it’s over 0
The President of the Cameroon Football Federation has maintained only the Belgian coach Marc Brys as head coach of the Indomitable Lions.
FECAFOOT boss Samuel Eto’o reached the decision at the end of a meeting with members of the Emergency Committee of the Cameroon Football Federation that held on May 8 2024.
Apart from the most important position on the staff where FECAFOOT retained the Belgian technician Marc Brys, appointed on April 2, 2024 by the Minister of Sport, President Eto’o swept aside all the other officials appointed by the member of the CPDM government.
Former Indomitable Lions legends Omam Biyick and Alioum Boukar were all replaced as deputies by Coach Martin Ndtoungou Mpile and Idris Carlos Kameni, the 2000 Olympic champion.
The most powerful position which is that of national team coordinator was given to Benoît Angbwa, while the Minister for Sport had appointed Didier Benjamin Banlock, a former associate of President Samuel Eto’o to the post. The two men have been at daggers-drawn positions ever since the Qatar FIFA World Cup.
Cameroon Concord News understands FIFA played a role in bringing together the factions by invoking the collaboration agreement between FECAFOOT and the Ministry of Sport for the management of the Indomitable Lions that has been in place for over 9 years.
FIFA reportedly insisted that articles 9 and 13 of the agreement must be respected. Article 9 stipulates that members of the Indomitable Lions’ staff are recruited either by FECAFOOT or on secondment from the State. Article 13 says that FECAFOOT and the Ministry of Sport are committed to the serene and concerted management of football in a spirit of dialogue, solidarity and patriotism.
On the basis of these two articles, FIFA invited the two parties to sit down around a table and engage in dialogue to resolve their differences, pending the revision of this disputed agreement as soon as possible.
But without any consultation, FECAFOOT appointed the Indomitable Lions staff on May 8. The nation is now curious to know the reaction of the Minister of Sport, who declared on April 2 that he had acted on the instructions of the President of the Republic.
By Rita Akana



















22, May 2024
Russia begins tactical nuclear weapons drills near Ukraine 0
Russia on Tuesday announced the start of tactical nuclear weapons drills close to Ukraine, in what it said was a response to Western “threats”.
Throughout its two-year offensive on Ukraine, Moscow has repeatedly talked-up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and its readiness to deploy them if it senses an existential threat.
The West has accused President Vladimir Putin of irresponsible nuclear sabre-rattling.
Russia’s defence ministry said Tuesday the drills were taking place in its Southern Military District, which borders and includes parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed. It did not specify exactly where.
The drills are designed to test “the readiness of personnel and equipment of non-strategic nuclear weapons combat units to respond and to unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
It added they were a “response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials.”
Putin ordered the drills earlier this month after a series of Western statements on the Ukraine conflict drew scorn in Moscow.
Russian officials pointed to comments by French President Emmanuel Macron about NATO countries needing to not rule out deploying troops to Ukraine and British Foreign Minister David Cameron saying Kyiv had the right to fire Western missiles at Russian territory.
Russia’s Southern Military District is the command centre for its offensive on Ukraine. It is headquartered in Rostov-on-Don, 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the border with Ukraine and also includes parts of the country Russia says it has annexed—the Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The defence ministry published footage showing trucks carrying missiles to a field where launch systems were prepared and troops at an airfield readying a bomber to carry a nuclear warhead.
It said this was the “first stage” of the drills, which involved practicing the loading of launch vehicles, driving to designated launch sites and loading planes with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.
It did not indicate whether any test firings had taken place.
Tactical nuclear weapons, also known as non-strategic nuclear weapons, are designed for use on the battlefield and can be delivered via missiles.
Source: AFP