5, July 2024
Eto’o fined $200,000 but escapes match-fixing charge 0
African football’s governing body has fined Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot), $200,000 for an ethics breach, but found insufficient evidence to pursue a charge related to allegations of match-fixing.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) opened an investigation into Eto’o’s conduct in August last year after receiving “written statements from several Cameroonian football stakeholders”.
A disciplinary panel found, external that the four-time African Footballer of the Year had “seriously violated the principles of ethics, integrity and sportsmanship” of Caf by signing a contract to be an ambassador for betting company 1XBET.
Eto’o’s lawyers have said they will appeal against the verdict.
1XBET sponsors the top two divisions of men’s professional football in Cameroon and both the men’s and women’s international sides, while the regulations of Fifa, football’s global governing body, state that people bound by its code are not allowed any involvement in betting related to football.
Last July, a group representing amateur clubs in Cameroon called on Eto’o to resign, highlighting their concern over the 43-year-old’s relationship with 1XBET and citing “grave irregularities” at Fecafoot.
Match-fixing allegations
While Eto’o has been found guilty of breaching Caf statutes when it comes to ethics, he has escaped a sanction related to match-fixing, with the disciplinary panel ruling that “as it stands, there is insufficient proof”.
The former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker was being investigated alongside Valentine Nkwain, president of newly promoted club side Victoria United, following a leaked phone conversation said to be of the pair discussing Victoria’s return to the top flight before promotion had been guaranteed.
Both have previously denied involvement in any conspiracy to manipulate results.
The latest judgement by Caf is unlikely to quell dissent in Cameroon related to Eto’o’s running of football in the country.
Earlier this week a group of administrators, including former members of Fecafoot and the president of the country’s Professional Football League, wrote an open letter to Caf president Patrice Motsepe and Fifa boss Gianni Infantino, urging them to speed up their investigations and pointing out that possible sanctions included a lifetime ban.
The letter said “many stakeholders who have been in the game for several decades are leaving because of the abuses that have taken place over the past two years.”
Source: BBC
25, July 2024
Football: Historic French club Bordeaux to become amateur after bankruptcy 0
Former French Ligue 1 champions Bordeaux on Thursday said they will become an amateur club for the first time in almost 90 years after filing for bankruptcy.
They had announced earlier in the week that they would accept their relegation to the third-tier Championnat National by French football’s financial watchdog, the DNCG.
Bordeaux, based in France’s south-west, won the last of their six top flight titles in 2009.
They first turned professional in 1937.
The club needs to find 40 million euros ($43.6 million) to balance their books and had been in talks with the owners of Liverpool, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), before the American investors pulled out of negotiations earlier this month.
“On Tuesday, the club filed for bankruptcy with Bordeaux’s commercial court, to be able to begin necessary restructuring,” they said in a statement.
“The club had to give up asking to maintain its professional status” as it risked “heavy sanctions” if it presented a recovery plan to the DNCG that did not reflect its future financial reality.
Bordeaux were relegated to Ligue 2 in 2022, just 12 years after reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
The town’s mayor slammed the decision by Bordeaux’s controversial owner Gerard Lopez, who has invested 60 million euros into the club since 2021.
“I’ve learnt with consternation the sudden and personal decision made by Gerard Lopez,” Pierre Hurmic told AFP.
“It confirms the risky management that has led our club in the space of three years from the elite Ligue 1 to the amateur level,” he added.
A host of well know players — past and present — have played for Bordeaux including World Cup winners Zinedine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, as well as Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.
“I feel extremely sick like everyone who loves the club,” 1998 World Cup winner Lizarazu said on Instagram.
“What’s happing is unfortunately the result of disastrous football and financial management for many years,” he added.
One consequence to the move is that the club’s academy will close and a host of professional players will leave the outfit.
The new Championnat National season begins on August 16 with Bordeaux expected to play at their 42,000-capacity Matmut Atlantique home, France’s sixth biggest stadium, for the campaign.
Source: AFP