FECAFOOT elections: Going to equity with filthy hands!.

In the ministry's decision, it cited flagrant irregularities and several dysfunctions that would undermine the credibility of the electoral process such as: arbitrary suspensions of certain influential members of the federation; the substitution of elected offices by Provisional Management Committees; and unilateral amendments to the federation's organic texts.

Other irregularities the ministry pointed out include; exclusion of clubs from the electoral process, perceived as an attempt to disenfranchise some stakeholders; the non-organisation of championships in several Divisions which weakens the representativeness of local actors in the process and the creation of "fictitious" clubs to inflate the electorate in favour of the incumbent executive.

The minister also faulted FECAFOOT for starting “the electoral process without informing the supervisory authority as this has always been the case for all National Civil Sports Federations, thus undermining the good collaboration that exists between the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education. MINSEP, and the national sports movement as a whole”.

After picking the conspicuous legal and administrative holes in the process, Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, demanded that only the 2021 bylaws should be applied and not the 2024 revised text.

The statutes of July 2021, recognised by the State, stipulates in Article 36 paragraphs (c) and (d), clearly that candidates must "not have been sentenced or deprived of liberty, not exceeding three months; or sentenced to an indefinite term associated with simple suspension or with probation in excess of six months".

By that, the 2021 legislation prohibits Eto'o from re-election, due to his sentence in Spain to 22 months in prison and fines for tax fraud concerning undeclared image rights. Being a first offender, the sentence was suspended.

Since the election of the Eto'o-led executive on October 11, 2021, the body has made many modifications, including that of November 16, 2024, judged to be scandalous in protecting ex-convicts.

Those Eto'o stepped on their fragile toes during his tenure tainted with the arbitrary dismissal of Indomitable Lions Coach, breach of contract with Le Coq Sportif equipment suppliers and involvement in gambling promotion, continue to tackle him on many fronts.

On August 25, 2025, the media was agog with the decision that a group of local football stakeholders, ahead of the FECAFOOT elections, had contacted lawyer Emmanuel Nsahlai, based in the United States of America, with the goal to putting an end to what they described as "abuses and opacity in FECAFOOT's governance".

As a consequence, the Nsahlai Law Firm published an explosive press release, announcing that "a criminal complaint had been officially filed in the United States of America, against Samuel Eto'o Fils, in his capacity as FECAFOOT President concerning US$600,000, about 365 million FCFA, belonging to FECAFOOT, which disappeared under murky circumstances", after a Cameroon international match against Mexico, played on June 10, 2023 in San Diego.

Although Cameroon fulfilled all its sporting obligations, “FECAFOOT never received the payment” but they payment, some claimed, never came to the federation.

Furthermore, no proof of remittance or payment to US tax authorities was produced, thus, raising serious concerns about the management of financial resources related to national football.

The complaint was addressed to the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the FBI, two institutions known for their rigour in combating financial crimes.

Moreover, the precise statement that the legal action was initiated by a coalition of FECAFOOT Executive Committee members and Cameroonian football executives, all alarmed by persistent misgovernance within the Federation, put Eto'o's re-election strategy in limbo. 

The FIFA Ethics Committee in Zurich, is also being asked by the same complainants to open an investigation into concealed criminal convictions and blatant conflicts of interests by Eto'o Fils, as ambassador of a gambling.

It is common knowledge that the Confederation of Africa Football, CAF, fined Samuel Eto'o Fils $200,000, approximately, 121 million FCFA on July 4, 2024, for seriously violating ethics and integrity rules by signing a brand Ambassadorship deal with a betting company.

The petitioners in their demand explained that: "This is not about attacking Samuel Eto'o Fils the legend, whose career remains untouchable; but about saving Cameroonian football from a governance that is drifting".

Critics say under Eto'o Fils, the management of FECAFOOT has been anything but scandalous. Three Secretaries General, two Marketing Directors, a Development Director, a Spokesperson, and a Cabinet Director have resigned since Eto'o took over as the country’s FA boss, four years ago. Cameroon has also had to pay billions in lost cases that would have been avoided.

At a FECAFOOT assembly in Yaounde on August 13, 2025, the Secretary General of in the ministry of sports, Joseph Yerima, representing the government, said the State attaches much to compliance with the "principle of consensus, inclusion and peace in the organisation of elections of the leaders of national sports federations. 

He said: “At the moment our nation has rendezvous with history next October 12, it goes without saying that this imperative is of public order".

The current executive is being accused of unilaterally adjusting the goal posts to eliminate potential rivals. The Ministerial Decision is based on law and should not be misinterpreted as interference in the management of FECAFOOT; as members of the Tsanga fan club propagate with frenzy.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3548 of Friday August 29, 2025