Sports

3, April 2017

French Cameroun: Sports Minister to hold crisis meeting amid numerous scandals ⁰

The Biya Francophone government has said that it wants to know what actually caused the scandal that took place on Tuesday 28 March in the lair of the indomitable Lions, before taking any sanctions and measures to prevent the occurrence of another one. Cameroon Concord News understands, the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Bidoung Mkpat has summoned Tombi A Roko the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, Fécafoot and Hugo Broos the head coach of the national team.

On Tuesday 28 March 2017 at the Parker Hotel in Brussels in Belgium, Cameroon’s national football team was refused entrance to the hotel’s restaurant for unpaid invoice. In a press conference after the match against Guinea Conakry, the coach of the indomitable Lions, Hugo Broos profited and exposed the shortcomings registered since his appointment over a year ago.

Yaoundé had not even started managing the fallout of the hotel scandal when the player Oyongo Bitolo complained the next day that he was abandoned at the airport in Brussels by those who were in charge of organizing his return trip to Canada. The meeting announced for tomorrow Tuesday 04 April 2017 with the Minister of Sports and Physical Education is simply another CPDM tactics to play down the shame and embarrassment that came with the Brussels scandal.

By Eyong Johnson

2, April 2017

Indomitable Lions: Rigobert Song returns to Cameroon, not very fit and hesitant in steps ⁰

Rigobert Song, the former captain of the Indomitable Lions returned to Cameroon yesterday the 1 of April 2017. Not looking very fit and hesitant in his step, Song was welcomed at the Yaounde Nsimalen international airport by a cheering crowd. It was a historic return to his homeland having left Cameroon in October 2016, after suffering a stroke.

Magnan returned to Yaoundé on an Air France flight that landed around 19:40 pm. The atmosphere was special as several hundred people, acquaintances and simple admirers have made the trip to wish a good return to the one who remains the idol of a nation.

Upon arrival at the VIP Lounge of the airport, the jubilation took hold of him and a very smiling Rigobert Song was touched by this gesture of affection. “What’s going on? Is everyone for me? The Africa Cup of Nations trophy has already passed through this airport!! Why are people still here?” Song laughed with the media men pointing out that this atmosphere reminded him of the returns after great victories of the national team.

Hundreds of fans gathered spontaneously and were chanting “Magnan”, “Magnan” at the sight of Rigo under the astonished gaze of his mother. “I thank God, the presidential couple and the Cameroonian people who love him so much. He left like a passenger without a ticket, today he is back on his feet” said Bernadette Song.

By Rita Akana

31, March 2017

Indomitable Lions: Eto’o says Brussels scandal has vindicated him ¹

Samuel Eto’o, the former captain of the indomitable Lions of Cameroon has reacted to the scandal that has rocked the national football team in Brussels. Eto’o made his opinion public on Thursday stating that the recent affair in Belgium falls in line with what he had all along been criticizing in the management of Cameroon football.

The French Cameroun football legend said that history has finally vindicated him because he often suffered the wrath of the leaders of the Cameroonian Football Federation when he happened to denounce the bad organization of the national team.

Eto’o’s misfortunes began in November 2011 after the LG Cup tournament in Marrakech. For claiming the payment of bonuses and forcing his teammates to refuse to play a friendly against Algeria, he was suspended for 15 matches before the sentence was reduced to eight months.

As a reminder, the Lions of Cameroon were blocked in a hotel in the Belgian capital, Brussels. The players were refused food before a friendly against Guinea Conakry due to unpaid bills.

By Fru James

29, March 2017

Financial scandal rocks the Indomitable Lions, Head Coach says corruption so profound that even aid granted to the country by international partners rarely reaches their recipients ⁰

After winning the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, Cameroon football has gone back to its old habits rocked by scandals. In a statement that has sparked controversy and embarrassed the Yaoundé regime, the trainer of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Hugo Broos has told the world that the players did not eat at noon in Brussels, Belgium before a friendly encounter because the hotel was not paid.

The declaration has once again raised the issue of corruption and embezzlement of funds allocated to the management of the national team and more generally of Cameroonian football. “I’m more than outraged before the game the players did not eat. About eleven, I asked them to go down to the restaurant for lunch. They went there. But the hotel staff blocked the entrance saying that since the team’s stay, the bills have not been paid, “said the Belgian technician on Radio France International, after the friendly match against Guinea in Belgium.

The Belgian added, “And me the question I ask is where the money went. We must stop with amateurism. I’ve been with Cameroon for a year now. With the players I have done beautiful things. But frankly, I wonder if I have to continue with Cameroon!! “

Perhaps that explained why the current African Champions suffered their first defeat on Tuesday evening, against Guinea at the Edmond Machtens stadium. The European technician revealed that corruption is a profound evil in Cameroon. So profound that even the aid granted to the country by the international partners rarely reaches their recipients. Cameroonian leaders are accused by the press of monopolizing all the wealth they share with their families or courtiers. And that they are passed down from generation to generation.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

25, March 2017

Africa Cup of Nations 2019: Clash in the award of contracts in Garoua gets ugly ²

Projects planned in Garoua, the regional capital of the North, including the rehabilitation of the Roumdé Adja stadium and the construction of a 4-star hotel, in view of the next African Cup of Nations that Cameroon will host in 2019 have not started.

Unlike other cities, such as Douala (Littoral), Yaoundé (Center), Limbe (South-West) chosen to host the teams that will qualify for the next Can 2019, Garoua in the North is not yet at the award stage of public contracts. Cameroon Concord News has gathered that violent clashes erupted deep within the Biya administration with top political elites from the North Region pointing an accusing finger at Paul Bell, Assistant Director of Sports Facilities and Equipment at the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education. Paul Bell is also a cousin to Bidoung Mpkatt, who is the current Minister in charge of Sports and Physical Education.

In the commission dedicated to the awarding of contracts for the construction of the infrastructures of the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 to be hosted in Cameroon, the voices of Minister Bidoung Mpkatt and his relatives in the ministry are preponderant. Our source in Yaoundé hinted that the presidency of the republic cannot award a contract without a favorable opinion of Bidoung Mpkatt and his gang. Aware of this situation, Paul Bell is calling the shots which have culminated to an unacceptable delay in the award and execution of contracts in the North.

With Issa Hayatou voted out, Cameroon is only 5 months away from the visit of the inspectors of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), for a first evaluation mission. What miracle will the Francophone political elites perform for the North region to succeed in the feat of hosting a single pool of the competition? The Adamaoua, North and Far North regions therefore appears to be on the wrong footing in comparison with other regions to accommodate the various delegations of the competition, whether in hotel infrastructures or stadiums. Paul Bell will not succumb to any pressure and simply wants his own share from the contractors of the Northern regions.

By Sama Ernest

17, March 2017

Enfin Issa Hayatou ousted after 29 years ⁰

Madagascar’s football chief, Ahmad Ahmad, was elected president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday, ousting veteran leader Issa Hayatou after 29 years in office. Ahmad won the election in the Ethiopian capital Addid Ababa by 34 votes to Hayatou’s 20, official results showed.

“When you try to do something, you mean that you can do it,” Ahmad told reporters after the vote. “If I can’t do it, I never stand.” Ahmad, a 57-year-old father of two, had a playing and coaching career before he took the reins of the Madagascar football federation in 2003.

His rare and determined bid for “change” at the head of the CAF this year took many by surprise and the incumbent was seen as the favourite. Al Jazeera’s Andy Richardson, reporting from Addis Ababa, said CAF members will now be hoping Ahmad delivers on the “change” he had promised.

“Ahmad has long been saying that African football is in real danger of being left behind unless there is real change at the top,” Richardson said. “In his campaigning, he really appealed to smaller nations within Africa. Madagascar, the tiny footballing nation he represents, has never qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations, never mind the World cup. “But that was one of his biggest strengths, some of the continent’s smaller nations had grown disenfranchised with the old guard and the confederation.”

Richardson said Ahmad’s appointment comes at a time when the relationship between Hayatou and Gianni Infantino, president of world football’s body, was “strained” at best. “FIFA is currently looking at redistributing funds in Africa and it may decide to how many extra African teams go into the 2026 World Cup, so these changes in leadership means a lot.” Hayatou headed CAF since 1988 and is a senior vice president of FIFA. He has been credited with increasing the number of African teams at the World Cup and bringing in extra finance for the continent’s competitions.

Al Jazeera

15, March 2017

Cameroun Football: FECAFOOT suspends three referees ¹

The Secretary General of the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT has suspended indefinitely the officials of the match that opposed Tonnere kalara club (Tkc) and Botafogo of Douala from all football activities. The encounter was played at the Military Stadium in Yaoundé over the week end.

The three Cameroonian referees suspended by the Cameroon football governing body are central referee Chewou Amadou and his two assistants, Olinga Fandjieng and Ngwane Léonard. The fourth official Ekoumou Jeanne is also expected to be given a ban.

Blaise Moussa in a statement observed that the men in black violated the measures put in place by the administrative authority which according to FECAFOOT was a serious breach of the ethics of sport and the ethical obligations, provided for by the regulations in force.

The Senior Divisional Officer for Mfoundi Division in Yaoundé had made public a prefectural order preventing TKC from hosting any activity on its territory.

By Rita Akana

14, March 2017

Southern Cameroons uprising: South West boycotts “Tour of Cameroon” ⁰

The population of the South West region boycotted the so-called tour of Cameroon caravan. The bicycle race was a popular event that attracted thousands of on-lookers in the South West region. The authorities had put in place an impressive security deterrent device at the caravan’s passage to face off any attack from Southern Cameroons activists. But the South West population responded by staging a ghost town as the caravan ran across the region.

The defense and security forces mobilized on March 13, 2017 to protect the passage of the caravan of the tour of Cameroon did not have much work. From the Kumba toll at the entrance to the town of Limbe, very few people watched as the predominantly local and international French speaking cyclists did their thing.

The mood at the arrival point in Limbe seen here on photo was completely and totally deserted. Yet the Francophone authorities had pulled out their heavy artillery to deal with any eventuality. French speaking soldiers armed with assault rifles were stationed after every 300 meters with police reinforcement.

Our Yaounde informant hinted that the government had mobilized a military aircraft ready to take off at any moment for the South West. The strong militarized presence, however, did not serve much, since the Southern Cameroonians boycotted the race.

By Sama Ernest

13, March 2017

Biya’s men at war over control of Tonnerre Kalara Football Club ⁰

The chartered members of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime have extended their tribal war into Cameroon football. In the early evening of Sunday, March 12, 2017 at the Yaounde military stadium, the Sub Prefect of the Yaounde 3rd district tried in vain to postpone the match Tonnerre kalara club (Tkc) of Yaoundé against Botafogo of Douala for what the Biya appointee noted was a threat of disturbance to public order.

The match of the 3rd day of the national championship Ligue 2 opposing Tonnerre Kalara club of Yaoundé against Botafogo of Douala initially scheduled to begin at 2.30 pm at the Military Stadium in Yaoundé finally started around 5 pm. The kick-off recorded nearly two and a half hours delay due to a war of words verbal between a group of people headed by General Pierre Semengue, the President of the Cameroon Professional Football League and another group led by Emile Onambele ZIbi, leader of one of the two factions fighting for the management of the Thunder Kalara club of Yaounde (TKC). Tonnere produced international football legends like Roger Milla, George Opong Weah, Salla Mensah and Ndoram

Despite an impressive police and gendarme deployment after threats of disruption of the match, Emile Onambele ZIbi and his supporters found themselves inside the stadium to prevent the unfolding of the game. Biya and his kinsmen have reportedly destroyed every aspect of Cameroonian life including the Roman Catholic Church.

Cameroun Info.Net

11, March 2017

Indomitable Lions: Anglophone striker dropped for disrespecting Roger Milla ⁴

Cameroon’s Belgian technician made public on Friday the list of players selected for the upcoming friendly matches. Six players who contributed to the victory of the Lions in the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon are not included.

Hugo Broos’s new list of 23 players will play two friendly matches in the next FIFA period, against Tunisia on 24 March in Monastir (Tunisia) and against Guinea Conakry on 28 March in Brussels, Belgium. The absence of Clinton Njié, Sébastien Siani, Robert Ndip Tambe, Edgar Salli and Jonathan Ngwem has not gone unnoticed.

The fact that the coach did not take time to clarify the non-convocation of these players who were part of the glorious expedition in Gabon, piles up many ambiguities. Cameroon Concord News learnt that the absence of Clinton Njié would amount to a sanction imposed by FECAFOOT for seriously disrespecting Roger Milla in Gabon.

For the moment, Hugo Broos has still not explained his choices. The thesis of the exclusion of some players is already fueling the debates since the two friendly matches are part of the preparations for the next FIFA World Cup, which will be played from 17 June to 2 July 2017 in Russia.

By Sonne Peter