15, January 2021
Biya meets FIFA President Infantino 0
The 87-year-old French Cameroun dictator Paul Biya has met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino today January 15, 2021 at the Etoudi Palace in Yaoundé.
Biya’s communication agents posted on his face book page that the butcher of Yaoundé was delighted to meet with Gianni Infantino, on the eve of the opening of the 2021 African Nations Championship.
After all the tongue-biting, pride-swallowing moments with the former CAF President Ahmad Ahmad where Biya and his CPDM crime syndicate employed strategic silence or florid flattery to stay in FIFA’s good graces, both men reportedly discussed the development of soccer in Cameroon in particular and in the world in general.
Mr. Infantino arrived in Cameroon a few hours ago and will attend the opening of CHAN tomorrow, January 16. He was accompanied to the so-called Unity Palace by the acting president of CAF, Constant Omari and the president of FECAFOOT, Seidou Mbombo Njoya.
By Rita Akana in Yaounde
17, January 2021
CAF and FIFA Mafia: Ahmad Ahmad is gone; Hayatou is back, Infantino supporting African football’s restart in Yaoundé 0
FIFA President Gianni Infantino concluded a two-day trip to Cameroon, where he has met with dignitaries of the country and key officials from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Cameroonian Football Association (Fecafoot). The trip coincided with the start of the African Nations Championship (CHAN), which is being hosted in three Cameroon cities from 16 January until 7 February 2021.
The FIFA President, who was received in a private audience by Paul Biya, the President of the Republic of Cameroon, at the Unity Palace in Yaounde on Friday, subsequently attended a ceremony which conferred the title of CAF Honorary President to Issa Hayatou, who presided over the confederation from 1988 to 2017.
“I had the pleasure of providing President Biya with an update in relation to FIFA’s role in supporting football, not only in Cameroon, but also across Africa and globally,” said the FIFA President, who was accompanied at the meeting by CAF President Constant Omari. The FIFA President would also later meet Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Ngute during the visit to Yaounde.
“Equally, meeting with CAF and Fecafoot officials, it was important to show FIFA’s support to football in Cameroon and across the African continent, especially as the African Nations Championship just kicked off, the first international tournament being played in 2021, and spectators are attending matches according to the safety protocols which have been established,” the FIFA President added. “It sends an important message to have football restarting in Africa, particularly in an indisputable football country such as Cameroon.”
Prior to leaving the country, Gianni Infantino attended the opening ceremony and the opening match of the CHAN final tournament, where hosts Cameroon narrowly overcame Zimbabwe at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde. In total, 16 African national teams are participating in what is the sixth African Nations Championship, a biennial tournament which involves players from the respective domestic leagues.
He also presided over a controversial ceremony that installed Issa Hayatou on Friday in Yaoundé in a new football portfolio as honorary president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Issa Hayatou was defeated in the elections in March 2017 by Ahmad Ahmad who replaced him. He reportedly left Cairo in anger and has ever since maintained a kind of deliberate silence.
CAF has been using FIFA’s COVID Relief Fund grant (USD 2 million) to restart their competitions, with the medical protocols, flights and accommodation for match officials at CHAN being subsidised through this funding.
Source: FIFA.com with additional reporting from Cameroon Concord News Group