Football: UEFA to reimburse Liverpool fans who attended Paris Champions League final

7, March 2023

Football: UEFA to reimburse Liverpool fans who attended Paris Champions League final 0

UEFA said Tuesday it will reimburse all Liverpool supporters who attended last year’s chaos-hit Champions League final between the English club and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Paris.

Heavily criticised in an independent report published last month for organisational failures which “almost led to disaster”, European football’s governing body said its refund scheme would cover the entire Liverpool allocation of nearly 20,000, as well as supporters of Real and other spectators affected by the trouble outside the stadium.

“Refunds will be available to all fans… where the most difficult circumstances were reported,” UEFA said, adding that all ticket-holders who did not enter the stadium by the originally scheduled kick-off time, or could not get in at all, would also receive a refund.

“Given these criteria, the special refund scheme covers all of the Liverpool FC ticket allocation for the final, i.e. 19,618 tickets.”

Real’s 1-0 win at France’s national stadium on May 28 was overshadowed by events outside, with the kick-off delayed by 37 minutes as fans struggled to access the stadium after police funnelled them into overcrowded bottlenecks as they approached.

Police then fired tear gas towards thousands of supporters locked behind metal fences on the perimeter to the stadium.

UEFA tried to pin the blame on Liverpool fans arriving late despite thousands having been held for hours outside the stadium before kick-off.

A leading Liverpool fans’ group, Spirit of Shankly, later said fans were left “fearing for their life” in a “maelstrom of chaos and alarm”.

The Spirit of Shankly and the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association hailed the decision but underscored that it did not go far enough.

A joint statement said the announcement “does not excuse UEFA, exempt them from criticism or lessen the need for them to implement all of the recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry”.

The French authorities claimed an “industrial scale fraud” of fake tickets was the problem.

A French Senate enquiry in July found that poorly-executed security arrangements were the cause of the mayhem.

The independent report said that “UEFA, as event owner, bears primary responsibility for failures which almost led to disaster”.

“We have taken into account a huge number of views expressed both publicly and privately and we believe we have devised a scheme that is comprehensive and fair,” said UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis.

“We recognise the negative experiences of those supporters on the day and with this scheme we will refund fans who had bought tickets and who were the most affected by the difficulties in accessing the stadium.”

In a brief statement, the English club said: “This is a UEFA refund policy, not a Liverpool FC policy.

“The club’s role, as a ticket agent for this match, will be to administer the refunds to qualifying supporters that bought match tickets via LFC, as directed by UEFA.”

Images of the final tarnished France’s reputation for holding major sports events ahead of the Rugby World Cup this year and the 2024 Olympic Games, both of which will host events at the Stade de France.

This year’s Champions League final is due to be played in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 10.

Source: AFP

Amougou Belinga: The mafia boss with holdings in banking, finance, insurance and property

6, March 2023

Amougou Belinga: The mafia boss with holdings in banking, finance, insurance and property 0

Prominent businessman Amougou Belinga was charged on Saturday with complicity in the torture of a journalist who was murdered in a high-profile case that has rocked the country, his lawyer told AFP.

Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, reputedly close to ministers and senior officials, was arrested on February 6 and brought before a military court in the capital Yaounde on Friday before being remanded, his lawyer said.

A source at the court confirmed the report to AFP on condition of anonymity. The authorities did not respond to requests for comment on the charges Amougou Belinga faces.

Radio journalist Martinez Zogo, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered in January, was outspoken against graft and financial sleaze and had often faced threats over his work.

Amougou Belinga, owner of L’Anecdote media group, “was arrested… at dawn” last month, the company said.

The tycoon has holdings in banking, finance, insurance and property, as well as L’Anecdote, which owns a daily newspaper of that name and several pro-government TV and radio stations.

Belinga’s lawyer said his client was “not charged with the murder of Martinez Zogo”, adding: “It is only an indictment, the judicial investigation has only just begun”.

Belinga “was placed under a detention order… at the main prison in Kondengi” after being “presented before an investigating judge at the military court,” a media group he owns said in a statement.

– Suspects –

Several people suspected of involvement in the case were also brought before the military court on Friday evening, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.

Leopold Maxime Eko Eko, head of the General Directorate for External Investigations (DGRE) and its director of operations, Justin Danwe, are among those suspected, a communication ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity, alongside other official sources who also requested confidentiality.

Denis Omgba Bomba, head of the National Media Observatory, a unit attached to the communications ministry, previously confirmed the arrest and said the tycoon had been “named a suspect in the killing of Martinez Zogo”.

Zogo, 50, was the manager of the privately-owned radio station Amplitude FM and host of a daily show called Embouteillage (Traffic Jam).

He had frequently named Amougou Belinga in his corruption accusations.

Zogo was abducted on January 17 outside a police station in the suburbs of the capital Yaounde, and his mutilated corpse was found five days later.

Just days before he was killed, he had told listeners about threats he faced.

The murder sparked outcry, including a protest by 20 leading Cameroonians over the government’s “long tradition of trivialising impunity and accepting atrocities.”

RSF’s Press Freedom Index ranks Cameroon a lowly 118th out of 180 countries.

The government has insisted Cameroon is “a state of law, where liberty is guaranteed, including the freedom of the press”.

Reported by AFP

Chelsea’s Ben Elliott switches international allegiance to Cameroon after representing England Under 16s

4, March 2023

Chelsea’s Ben Elliott switches international allegiance to Cameroon after representing England Under 16s 0

Chelsea youngster Ben Elliott has switched international allegiance from England to Cameroon after a charm offensive from the African nation’s manager Rigobert Song and federation president Samuel Eto’o.

Highly-rated academy midfielder Elliott, 20, is now on course to become a full international before making his professional debut after being included in Cameroon’s senior squad for their upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifying double header against Namibia at the end of this month.

Elliott joined Chelsea aged eight, was part of the academy group that later included the likes of Jamal Musiala and Tino Livramento, and represented England at under-16 level before a serious knee injury contributed to his progress for club and country being interrupted for more than two years from the age of 15.

However, he has overcome that setback to resume his Chelsea career and been one of their standout performers at Under 21s level this season.

His displays earned him a place in Graham Potter’s 25-man Chelsea squad for their mid-season training camp in Abu Dubai, a trip which helped put him on the radar of Cameroon officials.

Cameroon manager Rigobert Song and Samuel Eto’o, president of their football federation, have been looking to recruit players of dual nationality

The presence of his full name – Benjamin Njongoue Elliott – on the team sheet for Chelsea’s friendly against Aston Villa in Abu Dhabi played a part in alerting them to his Cameroon roots.

Cameroon had previously been in nearby Qatar for the World Cup.

As they look to build on a third-place finish in their World Cup group, Cameroon are keen to bring through a new generation of players and are actively on the lookout for those of dual nationality.

Elliott, who has been training with Chelsea’s first team this week, is eligible for Cameroon through his father.

And legendary former defender Song and striker Eto’o combined to explain their plans for the national team to Elliott and convince him to make the switch.

Cameroon begun their AFCON qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win in Burundi last June and can seal their place in next year’s Ivory Coast tournament when they face Namibia on March 23 and 28.

Source: Mail online

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Government forces are still a problem!

4, March 2023

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Government forces are still a problem! 0

Government forces went on a rampage this week in Kumba, Southwest region where they arrested many young Southern Cameroonians for unknown reasons.

The youths, most of whom say they do not know why they have been arrested, have been beaten and detained by Cameroonian soldiers who are asking the parents of those arrested to pay bribes for their children to be released.

A source in Kumba has informed the Cameroon Concord News that the young men “were forcefully taken out of their houses in a military raid carried out in the morning of Thursday, March 2, 2023 at about 2am and driven to the police station.”

Government forces have the bad habit of arresting young men for no just reasons and this is fueling a lot of tension and fear in the town, the source added.

The soldiers deployed in Southern Cameroons are here to make money and they are not missing any opportunity to exploit the already impoverished population, our source underscored.

It is challenging to drive around Southern Cameroons these days because of mixed patrol checkpoints in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

From Buea to Kumba, there are 9 checkpoints and all commercial drivers plying that road must pay CFAF 1,000 at each checkpoint. This is draining and it is killing business, the source lamented.

From Buea to Mamfe, there are 17 checkpoints and passengers are put through unnecessary checks which make free movement within the Southwest region challenging, our source pointed out.

The Southern Cameroons crisis which started as a protest by teachers and lawyers in 2016 has already resulted in the deaths of some 10,000 people and there is no end to the killings as government troops think that killing civilians is a sport.

Instead of seeking to minimize the killings, Cameroon government soldiers have transformed the unfortunate situation into a money-making business and this is with the support of their bosses in Yaoundé.

This explains why some Yaoundé government officials are determined to scuttle any efforts aimed at bringing peace to the country’s two English-speaking regions like the Canada-led talks which were announced a few weeks ago.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Martinez Zogo Case: Amougou  Belinga & Co moved to Kondengui

4, March 2023

Martinez Zogo Case: Amougou  Belinga & Co moved to Kondengui 0

After weeks of speculation about the outcome of the investigations into Martinez Zogo’s death, it has been reported that Amougou Belinga and many of his accomplices have finally been moved to the Yaounde Maximum Security Prison known as Kondengui which is testimony that the investigators have found probable cause.

Amougou Belinga, Cameroon’s media mogul, is the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of Martinez Zogo, the whistleblower and investigative journalist who has been exposing the shady businesses of the media mogul and his unholy friendship with government officials such as Louis Paul Motaze, the country’s finance minister, and Laurent Esso, the country’s justice minister who has been variously cited as having a hand in the journalist’s death.

Martinez Zogo’s death has opened a can of worms and one of such worms is the independence of the country’s judiciary.

The investigation into Martinez Zogo’s death was ordered by the country’s president, Paul Biya, instead of the police and gendarmerie which should be responsible for the investigation of criminal offences in the country.

More will be your as details get unpacked by our Yaoundé correspondent.

By Nelly Epupa with files from Rita Akana

Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga in Kondengui

4, March 2023

Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga in Kondengui 0

Around 7:00 am this Saturday, March 4, 2023, the CEO of the television channel Vision 4 was ferried from the Military Court in Yaoundé to the Kondengui Maximun Security Prison.

The business tycoon and media guru was too ashamed to speak to journalists as he left the Secretariat of State for Defense (SED) where he spent 25 days in custody as part of the investigation related to the murder of journalist and whistleblower Martinez Zogo.

Amougou Belinga started his last journey of many dangers around 5pm on Friday, March 3, 2023 for the Yaoundé Military Court under heavy escort and was auditioned till the early hours of Saturday March 4, 2023.

For more than 14 hours, journalists and relatives of the suspects stood in front of the Yaoundé Military Court.  Suspense was very intense and the late Martinez Zogo investigation proved to be longer than in the past, as the state prosecutor decided to close the preliminary procedure after two postponements. 

Lieutenant Colonel Justin Danwe, leader of the commando mission who kidnapped the renowned Martinez Zogo, in Yaoundé on January 17, 2023 before murdering him shortly thereafter was charged.

The Government Commissioner of the Yaoundé Military Court, Commander Cerlin Belinga, after having carefully read the preliminary investigation report produced by the Joint Gendarmerie-Police Commission said that there were enough corroborating clues to remand Lieutenant Colonel Justin Danwé, Amougou Belinga and all the elements of the DGRE in custody.

Amougou Belinga, Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Danwe including members of his killer squad have now joined the disgraced Commissioner Maxime Eko Eko, head of the General Directorate of External Research in Kondengui.

By some strange happenstance, journalist Bruno Bidjang the general manager of Vision 4, Colonel Raymond Thomas Etoundi Nzoe and Yannick Nkili, respectively Chief of Security and bodyguard of Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga were acquitted. Melissa Belinga’s driver and his wife were also freed.

Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga, the main man behind the murder of Martinez Zogo was charged with “complicity in torture by aiding”.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Africa follows Asia in giving Russians green light for Paris Olympics

4, March 2023

Africa follows Asia in giving Russians green light for Paris Olympics 0

Africa’s National Olympic Committees have followed their Asian counterparts in giving the green light on Saturday for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Russia and its ally Belarus have been sidelined from most Olympic sports since Russian forces invaded Ukraine last February.

However, in January the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was seeking a “pathway” for Russians to take part in the Games.

Following that announcement, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) offered athletes from both countries the chance to compete in this year’s Asian Games.

That was a significant move because they could gain qualifying marks in competition in Asia to allow them to compete in Paris.

Africa has now followed suit.

The motion — to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under a neutral flag — was passed unanimously by the executive committee of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) at their meeting in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

“The members came out unanimously in favor of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in all international competitions,” the ANOCA said in a statement.

It said ANOCA president, the Algerian Mustapha Berraf, had reiterated that the body “aligns itself with the position of the International Olympic Committee and its President Dr. Thomas Bach”.

The statement continued: “It will thus be a question of allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in complete neutrality without any sign of identity in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”

The IOC has explained that its reasoning was based on its belief that “no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport”.

But their stance has been met with contempt by Ukraine whose sports minister Vadym Goutzeit said such a move was “unacceptable” and called for a boycott if they are allowed to compete.

Many western nations also questioned the move.

Germany’s National Olympic Committee went public last month, declaring it is not “the right time to allow athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport to compete in international competitions again.”

In a letter in February, more than 30 countries, including Canada, France, Great Britain, Poland, Sweden and the United States, expressed concern about how the athletes could be neutral, particularly given the “strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military”.

The letter asked the IOC for “clarifications” on the neutrality required for Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Olympics.

The IOC responded that the letter ignored the human rights of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Source:  AFP

US: President Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed in February

4, March 2023

US: President Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed in February 0

US President Joe Biden, 80, had a cancerous skin lesion successfully removed from his chest in February, his doctor said Friday.

The lesion, detected during a routine medical examination, was a basal cell carcinoma, which “do not tend to ‘spread’ or metastasize,” Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said in a report made public by the White House, adding that “no further treatment is required.”

The lesion was removed during Biden’s annual medical checkup on February 16, after which the president was declared “fit for duty.”

“The site of the biopsy has healed nicely and the president will continue dermatologic surveillance as part of his ongoing comprehensive healthcare,” O’Connor said in the Friday report.

He noted that basal cell carcinoma were generally more innocuous than “more serious skin cancers such as melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma.”

“President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those of as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” O’Connor said in February following Biden’s medical examination.

The checkup was the final one before an expected announcement by Biden, the oldest person ever to be US president, to declare he is running for reelection in 2024.

At the February appointment, Biden completed a series of tests that he began last year at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a complex in the Washington suburbs with a presidential facility.

O’Connor at the time wrote that the president had spent “a good deal of time in the sun in his youth” and that he had already been treated regularly for removal of localized, non-melanoma skin cancers.

Source: AFP

Yaoundé: Senator Rebecca Ankie dies few days before elections

3, March 2023

Yaoundé: Senator Rebecca Ankie dies few days before elections 0

The President of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifeji, announced the death of Senator Rebecca Ankie Affiong on March 1 in Yaoundé following an illness.

She was a senator for the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement in the South West region. She was on the CPDM list of candidates for the March 12 senatorial election.

The ruling CPDM maintained their veteran candidates in the South West region where it is the only party in the senatorial contest.

The Electoral Code is silent on the death of a candidate in a senatorial election. The text speaks only on the death of an elected official in office.

According to Article 155 of the electoral code, when such a situation arises, by-elections are organized in the district of the deceased representative in order to replace the candidate. However, this election only takes place if the vacancy occurs at least one year before the end of the legislature. This is not the case at present. The CPDM could therefore enter the Senate in the new term with one less seat in the South West region.

Source: Journal du Cameroun

Popular Cameroonian singer Corry Denguemo dies aged 45

3, March 2023

Popular Cameroonian singer Corry Denguemo dies aged 45 0

Former member of the music group “Macase”, Denguemo Louise Corrine, has been announced dead following an illness.

Corry Denguemo as she was popularly known, passed away on March 2, in Paris, at the age of 45.

The music artist and songwriter rose to prominence as the main singer of the “Macase” music group, with which she won several awards including “Prix decouverte RFI”.

She commenced a solo career in 2011.

Denguemo Corrine was born in Oveng in the South region of Cameroon, on 18 August 1977.

Source: Betatinz

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