MTN Elite One: YOSA's relegation battle hits deadly rocks.

The deduction leaves the team with little or no chance of escaping the relegation zone before the season ends.

The homologation committee in the ruling declared that the Yellow Submarines have lost their recent match day 22 fixture against Gazelle Football Academy of Garoua by forfeiture as a punishment for its failure to show up for the May 4 showdown in the North Region

The committee also placed a one million FCFA fine on the Bamenda team as part of the punishment. Following the point deduction, the Yellow Submarines’ point tally was cut from 16 to 13. 

Points deduction a big blow 

With just some five rounds of matches before the season ends, the homologation committee ruling saw YOSA getting pushed to a spot where they may not be able to garner enough points to escape relegation even if the club wins all its last six matches in the ongoing campaign.

YOSA’s 13points count leaves the team sitting 16points behind AS Fortuna which occupies the 12th position on the tentative classification table.

For YOSA to be able to avoid relegation, it will need to come out victorious in all the last five matches which includes the one it failed to show up for against Fauve Azur, a fixture that the side is hoping that the homologation committee will reprogram. 

The Bamenda team will harbour those hopes while also hoping that the team that will conclude the season on the 12th position which is the first relegation-safety spot from the bottom half of the standing of the 16-team league, fails to harvest more than 32points. 

AS Fortuna which holds the spot at the moment, counts 30 points as things stand. YOSA has lost 14 of the overall 23 matches that it has effectively played in the championship this season. 

The club harvested its 16 points which has now been reduced to 13points after registering three victories and seven draws.

A possible relegation this season will mark the first-time YOSA is getting demoted from the Elite One since the club secured promotion to the topflight domestic league competition 16 years ago.

YOSA, 18-time league title winners, Coton Sport of Garoua and Union of Douala are the only three teams that have avoided demotion from the topflight competition since the Bamenda team’s debuting season 16 years ago. 

The club’s current relegation threat has come as a shock to a lot of Cameroonian football fans. This is partly owing to the fact that the club had just 12 months ago, repositioned itself as one of the key big shots in the Elite One championship by featuring in the title playoff phase of the 2023/2024 campaign.

Favorites, Colombe, also caught in committee’s rulings 

Monday’s ruling by the homologation committee affected several other clubs that are featuring in the Elite One competition this term.

Aigle of Moungo was deducted 3points and fined a sum of one million FCFA after the committee ruled that the structure had lost its match day 22 game against Dynamo of Douala by forfeiture for failing to show up for the game.

Bamboutos Football Club of Mbouda was deducted 3points for failing to answer present for its match day 22 fixture against Fauve Azur. The team was equally fined a sum of one million FCFA as part of the punishment for the absence, also losing the game by forfeiture.

The body reprogrammed two matches, both involving Colombe of Dja and Lobo. The team’s match day 22 fixture against Bamboutos was rescheduled although the West Region team was fined a sum of 500,000FCFA as a fine for failing to answer present for the game.

The South Region club’s matchday 20 encounter against Stade Renard of Melong which was abandoned halfway into the fixture was also rescheduled with Stade Renard fined a sum of one million 

The rescheduling of the two matches means Colombe of Dja and Lobo which had already declared itself as champions of the competition for the season, will have to wait for additional days to know its fate.

Following its 1-0 victory over YOSA last Sunday, Colombe increased its points tally to 62points. The tally placed the club 16points ahead of second-placed Gazelle Football Academy of Garoua with just some five rounds of matches to the end of the race.

However, the ruling by the homologation committee had the team’s points getting deducted to 56points, just 10points more than that of second-placed Gazelle FA. 

The new point count means the gap between the two teams can be closed down before the season ends, entailing that the Colombe club needs to wait until at least after the next round of matches to be confirmed as champions. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3458 of Wednesday May 28, 2025