AFCON qualifiers: Cameroon-Namibia match should be played in Yaounde!.

The hide and seek drama between the two bodies has been going on for one month running.

In the altercation, the National Sports Facility and Equipment Board, ONIES, a government outfit that manages sports infrastructure, should be the umpire, and it played just that role.

Initially, FECAFOOT applied to the body to hire the Japoma Sports Complex in Douala, for the match pitting the Namibia national team and that of Cameroon.

ONIES, a government organ created by presidential decree to maintain and manage sports infrastructure in the country, said for technical reasons, the match cannot be played in Douala.

It went on to justify the reason by expatiating that after the CAF Champions league game between Victoria United and Samartex of Ghana and the CAF Champions League pitting Red Stars and Djodiba on August 17, the terrain deteriorated and needed maintenance before any match can be played there. It added that time was short for such repairs.

Later at a preparatory meeting convened by Minister Prof Narcisse Mouelle Kombi and attended by FECAFOOT and other stakeholders, an ONIES representative reiterated that it would require a month for the Japoma Stadium to be prepared for any match.

Apart from that, a video presentation by the Inspector General of MINSEP, Michel Dissake Mbarga, using the weather forecast, pointed out that it shall rain in Douala on September 7, and not in Yaounde, which was chosen by MINSEP and ONIES. That should have been the final decision.

Surprisingly, the FECAFOOT representative, Prof Nkou Mvondo, disclosed that “a meeting has just been held by videoconference with CAF, FECAFOOT and the Namibian Football Federation. CAF and the Namibian Federation, sensitive to the arguments developed here, therefore believe, since we are talking about rain, the match cannot be played in Douala”. 

"As it is a question of rain, the three parties therefore made the decision to play the match where there is no rain. They therefore believe that in Yaounde, there will also be rain, and the solution is to play where there is no rain, which is in Garoua," the FECAFOOT representative claimed.

Rain is just a distraction from the main issue. Even in Europe, with an icing weather during winter, marches have been played, and often in Africa, especially during the rainy season as it is now.

The crux of the matter is legality. When did Eto'o and his FECAFOOT hold a meeting with CAF and Namibia to decide on Garoua within CAF's regulation?

Does the CAF rule not stipulate that matches are played in a "Stadium in the capital city of the host country"? 

Anywhere, out of that is at the discretion of the host that pays for the transportation of the visiting team to a stadium outside the capital, in this case Garoua.

By the same regulation, FECAFOOT only has the right to inform CAF that the stadium, including the stands and facilities such as emergency lighting, first aid facilities, protection against intrusion of spectators on the playing field, security etc have been "carefully inspected by the competent public authorities and that the latter have confirmed in writing that the stadiums meet the defined requirements".

In this case, are “the competent public authorities” not legally MINSEP and ONIES?  Did FECAFOOT get a "written confirmation" from the Cameroon Public Authorities before telling CAF and the Namibians that Garoua is the venue?

Has FECAFOOT even paid for the hotel in Garoua, which is said to be a government facility chosen to lodge the visitors? There are even reports that the hotel management is not aware of any such guests?

Is there money to ensure an extra cost of transporting the visitors, and even the home team from Yaounde to Garoua? Will Yaounde, with a better infrastructure and more fans than in Garoua, not be financially more profitable to host the game?

In just under a week to the match, Cameroonian soccer fans and fanatics are not talking about preparation for the Indomitable Lions in a sport that crystallises and catalyses everyone's emotions but quarreling with their hearts rather than brains over who is right and who is wrong.

For FECAFOOT, which has in this context become synonymous to Eto'o Fils, he doesn't have the freedom and independence to manage the association with no holds barred. The government has the infrastructure. It has the security and provides much of the money FECAFOOT needs.

So, it is a fallacy that government, by selecting a playground which is within the ambit of CAF regulation, is meddling in the management of FECAFOOT. 

CAF recognises that it requires a "written confirmation" by "the public authorities" before endorsing a venue for a match. No jurist is needed to explain that only the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education can make a choice of a stadium, period.

It has selected the Yaounde Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium for the Cameroon-Namibia match on September 7. 

If Eto'o Fils and his melee of supporters want to insist on Garoua, they do so at the risk of offering on a platter of gold, a victory by forfeiture to the Namibian national team. That should be treasonable. 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3213 of Thursday August 29, 2024