As a result of his decision to promote a club the from second Cameroonian division to the top league, troubling evidence about possible match-fixing conduct of Samuel Eto’o has come to light. The President of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) allegedly promised to promote the team by manipulating matches, as reported by French daily L’Equipe.
According to the source, Eto’o may be heard saying, “Opopo must go up to the first division,” on recordings made in January of 2023. This is our goal (…) This is our Federation. Victoria United will go up.
“Stay calm, we will grant you the three points and we suspend the referee. But let me at least go back to Cameroon. He arrived on the 3rd (January) at night. So we’ll see you in the office on the 4th. Anyway, I’m going to rule out and disable this referee”, he went on to say in the leaked talks.
Eto’o association with Cameroonian match-fixing issues
A few months later, the team catapulted to the first position. Ultimately, it won the competition because FECAFOOT ruled the previous season’s runner-up, Stade de Bertoua, was ineligible.
Therefore, Victoria United triumphed in April, claiming victory in Cameroon’s second division and gaining promotion. Furthermore, this is the club’s second promotion in as many years. In 2020, it jumped from the third to the second division. Eto’o was in charge.
Cherry on top of other allegations
This adds to the long list of recent scandals involving the president of the Cameroonian Federation. A few days ago, his ex-vice president, Henri Njalla Quan, made some broad allegations. Quan accused Eto’o of benching the national team’s Andre Onana.
“I asked him formally about the future of our goalkeeper [Onana] in the national team, and he replied that the boy’s career is over and that the letter he sent to his club, Inter, was to get rid of the boy, so how can someone be so petty? He wanted to get rid of him at all costs.
“The stars of the national team are being suffocated by someone who himself was a star when he was a footballer, and who wants to continue being one as a coach. He is present at all meetings, in all training sessions. Even the coach (Rigobert Song) feels suffocated by the omnipresence of Eto’o”, Njalla Quan said, via Cadena Cope.
PHOTO: IMAGO / NurPhoto
