Francis Ngannou has recently struggled to sleep through the night even after some of the most grueling training sessions of his decade-long combat sports career.

Every once in a while, the former UFC heavyweight champion turned imminent professional boxer will wake up in his Las Vegas home thinking about the day’s work in the gym. He’ll particularly go over the coaching he’s receiving from his childhood idol, former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

“In the night, it’s like, ‘Am I tripping? Is it real?’ ” Ngannou explained at a recent press conference. “Then I walk around and realize, no, I’m not dreaming. This is real.”

Ngannou’s fighting dreams were born when he was a child working in the Cameroon sand mines and heard tales of Tyson knocking out opponents and winning title fights on the other side of the world. He didn’t even actually see Tyson box until a few years later when he saved up enough money to travel to the city and search for the superstar boxer on YouTube.

Ngannou eventually emigrated to France, on foot, with his sights set on becoming a professional boxer, but he was convinced to pursue mixed martial arts instead. But boxing never left his mind, so much so that when he first met Tyson four or five years ago before he won the UFC title, Ngannou said he had one question for him.

“One thing that I precisely requested from Mike Tyson was whenever I fight Tyson Fury, would he be in my corner,” Ngannou said. “At that time everybody was looking at me as a fool for even (thinking about) fighting Tyson Fury.”

On Saturday, October 28, in Riyadh, Saudi Arbaia, Ngannou (0-0 in boxing) will fight the lineal heavyweight champion Fury (33-0, 1 no contest) with Tyson in his corner.

“He thinks he’s in a dream? F*ckin’ hell, I’m definitely in a dream. I’m named after (Mike Tyson) and now I’m in the opposite corner to him (35) years later?” Fury said.

“I have to take my hat off to Francis for his story and where he’s come from and the fight, the grind, the determination and everything he’s put into it to get to where he is. He was just a young boy in Africa with a big dream and everybody probably laughed at him when he said he was going to go to Las Vegas and win the UFC heavyweight championship. And then, when he said he was fighting Tyson Fury, they still laughed at him, but I never laugh at anybody because I know the man’s struggle. I come from a place where anything is possible.”

Boxing pundits give the 37-year-old Ngannou little chance to defeat the 35-year-old Fury in his maiden boxing voyage, and betting odds imply only an 8% chance at victory. But he arguably just faced an even larger foe, albeit in a bout that took place outside the ring.

For the past several years, Ngannou had waged a war with the UFC. One of his many points of contention with the locally-based fighting promoter was that it wouldn’t sign off on outside opportunities like the upcoming boxing match with Fury.

Ngannou feels like he won after the UFC gave up on contract negotiations and waived its right to match a deal with another promotion. He wound up signing with the Professional Fighters League, which welcomed his intentions to try out boxing.

Ngannou is expected to return to mixed martial arts and make his PFL debut sometime next year after the Fury fight.

“I’m going to fight the best boxer in the world for my first boxing fight,” Ngannou said. “I always ask myself, ‘What is going to happen the moment that guy hits the floor and my hand is up? Are you the best boxer in the world now? What would that be?’ If you take out the No. 1, I think you are the No. 1 … but it’s really hard to think about. I think right now, I focus on taking him out and then I’ll figure out the rest later.”

Fury has all but guaranteed victory, saying he wouldn’t only defeat Ngannou in boxing but also in mixed martial arts “if the money was right.” Ngannou has the world record for hardest punch ever recorded, 129,161 units on a PowerKube unit, so even Fury has admitted his opponent has “a puncher’s chance.”

The long odds against him don’t bother Ngannou after he’s defied them every step of his life and career so far. Having Mike Tyson by his side is proof enough that anything is possible.

“Go back and watch this man’s story. If you doubt him now, you will be sorry come October 28,” Ngannou’s longtime agent Marquel Martin said. “This man will shock the world. He’s done it time and again. It’s destined to be.”

Source: Las Vegas Weekly

Lawyers representing Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot), have denied that the former striker has been notified of legal proceedings against him.

In a statement, French law firm Vey & Associes dismissed allegations made against the 42-year-old as “calumnious rumours”, adding that Eto’o had not been informed of any judicial action or been issued with any kind of summons.

Whilst widespread media reports claimed on Friday that the four-time African Player of the Year was facing action linked to match-fixing allegations, a Cameroonian police document spoke of allegations of “abuse of authority, corruption” and other unnamed claims.

These police reports appear to have been based on a redacted image of an official-looking document. Although the BBC has seen the image, it has not yet been able to obtain confirmation of its authenticity from the authorities in Cameroon.

This is not the first time Eto’o’s Fecafoot presidency has come into question recently.

Last week, a group of football officials in Cameroon sent an open letter to Fifa claiming that the world governing body had “remained silent” on allegations raised against Eto’o despite “numerous complaints and reminders from Cameroonian football actors”.

The signatories of the letter included Fecafoot executive committee member Guibai Gatama as well as the president and vice-president of the Professional Football League of Cameroon, the organisation that runs league competitions in the country.

Alleging that the former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea player “continues to illegally impose himself on the Fecafoot presidency”, the letter said the situation was “perhaps even more serious” than the case involving former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales and World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso, which resulted in Fifa suspending Rubiales for 90 days and initiating disciplinary proceedings against him.

It also accused Fifa of operating a “two-speed management” between Africa and Europe which had allowed the continent to become “a kind of enclave where you can take liberties with the ethics and exemplarity that sports leaders should embody”.

Responding to the letter, Vey & Associes said Eto’o had launched a series of reforms to reorganise Cameroonian football leadership and was supported by “the vast majority of stakeholders”.

They also described the letter as “harmful” and “defamatory”, adding that Eto’o’s “bold policy change” would arouse “resistance from individuals ready to do anything to avoid losing their income from corruption”.

In July, a group representing amateur clubs in Cameroon called on Eto’o to resign and cited “grave irregularities” within Fecafoot following an 11-1 vote by Cameroon’s Amateur Clubs’ Association (ACFAC) in favour of asking him to stand down.

At the time, the BBC invited Fecafoot to comment on the nature of ACFAC’s claims but has received no response.

In August, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) began an investigation into allegations of improper conduct made against Eto’o, stating it had received “written statements from several Cameroonian football stakeholders” and would be “looking into these requests based on and in accordance with the Caf statutes and regulations”.

A Caf statement also said that on first impression the allegations looked “serious” but Eto’o would be “presumed innocent until an appropriate judicial body concludes otherwise”.

The BBC is also yet to receive comment from Fecafoot on Caf’s investigation.

During a glittering playing career, Eto’o was named African Footballer of the Year on four occasions, won three Uefa Champions League titles and represented Cameroon 115 times, winning two Africa Cup of Nations with the Indomitable Lions.

Source: BBC

Police in Cameroon have opened an investigation into claims that Samuel Eto’o was part of a match-fixing scandal.

The former Barcelona striker, who has been president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) since December 2021, was accused of helping to fix matches in Cameroon’s second tier in July after a recording of him speaking to someone alleged to be Valentine Nkwain, the president of Victoria United and known as ‘Bobdidy’, was made public. According to Camfoot, Eto’o allegedly promised to promote the club from the second division by manipulating matches – a claim denied by the former striker and by Nkwain, who has said it was not his voice on the recording.

Police have confirmed in a letter, seen by the Guardian, that they have opened an investigation into alleged “abuse of authority and corruption”. They are understood to have interviewed several key witnesses involved in the case. The investigation will also look into wider accusations of corruption at Fecafoot during Eto’o’s tenure, which it is believed could involve up to 40 people.

On the recording, Eto’o is alleged to have informed Nkwain that “there are things we can do” regarding a game in which Victoria were beaten 1-0 in December last year “but you have to be very discreet, brother”. “Don’t worry, we’ll give you your three points and we will suspend the referee,” he is alleged to have said. “Opopo [Victoria’s nickname] must go up to the first division. This is our goal. This is our federation. Victoria United will go up.” Victoria went on to be promoted in April.

Eto’o told the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in June that he had been “talking to a friend, someone who invests in football and wants to make his club one of the best in Cameroon”. He said: “I just reassured him by saying that I would have done everything possible to avoid any refereeing errors against him.”

The news comes after a group of Cameroon’s football officials called on Fifa to take action against Eto’o after a series of public incidents, including a “violent altercation” with an Algerian journalist at the World Cup in Qatar last year. The group – which includes Pierre Semengue, president of the Professional Football League of Cameroon – have written a letter jointly addressing Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) president, Patrice Motsepe, questioning how the former striker has been allowed to continue “to illegally impose himself on the Fecafoot presidency”.

An investigation into “certain alleged improper conduct” of Eto’o was opened by CAF in early August but no action has been taken.

“Not a word has been heard from Fifa,” the letter reads, “despite numerous complaints and reminders from Cameroonian football actors. How can Fifa continue to remain silent in the face of so many scandals that compromise public confidence in sporting ethics and the sincerity of matches?”

The letter was also critical of Infantino after he and Eto’o were pictured together earlier this month in France to discuss “football development”.

“The sad reality … is that Africa remains a kind of enclave where you can take liberties with the ethics and exemplarity that sports leaders should embody,” the letter says. “Can you imagine Fifa and Uefa remaining silent when the president of a European football federation is suspected of match-fixing, with audio recordings to back it up?”

By Haggai Fung Achuo

A nervy Cameroon scored twice in the second half to beat Burundi 3-0 in Garoua on Tuesday and qualify for January’s Africa Cup of Nations finals, overcoming their plucky opponents as Andre Onana marked his return to the team with a series of key saves.

Cameroon had needed to win the game to ensure a place in the finals. Victory saw them finish top of three-team Group C and also ensured that Namibia would qualify with them while Burundi missed out.

Bryan Mbeumo took advantage of a defensive slip to score one minute into the second half before defender Christopher Wooh swept home the ball from close range for the second goal in the 59th minute.

Wooh had missed the header from a corner by Karl Toko Ekambi but it fell loose and he was quick to sweep it home.

A clearance that came off the back of a defender allowed captain Vincent Aboubakar to score the third goal deep in stoppage time.

Burundi had needed only a draw and, despite their lowly ranking 98 places below the 42nd-ranked Indomitable Lions, came out the more positive team and Onana had to make several key stops to deny both Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana and Saidi Ntibazonzika.

Onana was making his return to the side after a fallout with coach Rigobert Song during the World Cup in Qatar last year which resulted in him being kicked out of their camp.

The new Manchester United goalkeeper showed his worth as Cameroon won for the first time since their 1-0 victory over Brazil in Qatar in their last group game in December.

With Group C settled, the field for the 24-team Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast from Jan. 13-Feb. 11 next year is complete.

Source: Reuters

A 31-year-old Cameroonian nurse from Bologna became Italian lightweight boxing champion Friday night just a year after getting Italian citizenship.

Pamela Noutcho’s dream has come true after she beat her challenger in Casoria (Naples) in the match for the belt.

Pamela Malvina Nooutcho Sawa has lived in Italy since she was 8 years old, after reuniting with her father who had left Cameroon for study and work.

Source: ANSA.It

At the Fédération Camerounaise de Football (Fécafoot), the implementation of the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport declaring the resolutions of the General Assembly of August 27, 2022 “null and void” is meeting with resistance.

Fécafoot and its president continue to resist CAS resolutions

In Cameroon, the ball isn’t always rolling. The stadiums have given way to a veritable legal battlefield. The situation has not improved since the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued its verdict on August 15, 2023 in the case between Guibaï Gatama et al. and the Cameroon Football Federation (Fécafoot).

CAS declared “null and void” the resolutions taken by Fécafoot at its General Assembly on August 27, 2022. The ruling was intended to restore order to Cameroonian soccer, but has met with fierce resistance from the body headed by former footballer Samuel Eto’o.

The François Kouedem case

One of the most contentious points in this affair revolves around François Kouedem, who has been suspended from his position as president of the Ligue de l’Ouest for almost two years. Fécafoot maintains its position, even though article 15 paragraph 2 of its statutes stipulates that: “Any suspension must be confirmed at the next General Meeting by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the valid votes cast, failing which it is immediately lifted.”

In the opinion of a legal expert who requested anonymity, the resolutions of the Fécafoot General Assembly of August 27, 2022 were declared null and void by CAS. “Consequently, Mr. Kouedem’s suspension is automatically lifted. That’s what the Statutes say”, explains the expert.

The case of jurisdictional bodies

At its August 27, 2022 session, the Fécafoot General Assembly elected the members of its various jurisdictional bodies. This point was included in resolution N°15 of the final communiqué of the meeting. As the CAS has declared resolution N°15 null and void,” explains the lawyer, “the members elected to the jurisdictional bodies at the Assembly of August 27, 2022 automatically lose their status, and the decisions taken by them since the date of their election are simply null and void.

The problem is that Fécafoot doesn’t have the same approach. It maintains the bodies dissolved by CAS. Thus, on September 4 2023, the president of the Ethics Chamber notified Donald Ngameni, president of the Unisport club in Haut Nkam, of his definitive exclusion from all football-related activities. A decision deemed “illegal and illegitimate (which) attests to Fécafoot’s determination not to comply with the rules governing the practice of soccer at national and international level”, argue Ngameni’s counsel. They promise to take the case to CAS.

The Panthère and Ligue de Football Professionnel cases

Following his logic, the General Secretary of Fécafoot also announced that Panthère du Ndé would remain in the second division, and that the Professional Football League of Cameroon (LFPC), which should be rehabilitated, would be dissolved. “This is a denial of reality on the part of the Federation, which is showing extreme bad faith in its assessment of the CAS ruling”, reacted a former Fécafoot employee.

For him, there is no doubt that the orders came from the boss of Cameroonian soccer. A Samuel Eto’o who “remains in a posture of arm-wrestling and settling scores with all those soccer players who have dared to criticize his mode of governance”, he says.

What Fécafoot risks

It is important to note that article 14 paragraph 1.a of the FIFA Statutes stipulates that member associations are obliged to observe at all times the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FIFA’s governing bodies, as well as those of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Paragraph 3 of the same article implies that the violation of paragraph 1.a entails sanctions. These range from “temporary suspension with immediate effect” to “exclusion” of the member association concerned by the FIFA Council.

Fécafoot may well be in for a nasty surprise, as certain stakeholders, notably the Panthère du Ndé club, have already referred the matter to FIFA, pointing out Fécafoot’s failure to comply with the CAS decision of August 15, 2023. This affair is far from over.

Source: Sports News Africa

Cameroon international striker Bryan Mbeumo scored in stoppage time to help Brentford salvage a 2-2 draw against winless Bournemouth in the English Premier League on Saturday.

The Cherries were poised for their first league victory after David Brooks scored in the 77th minute following a defensive error to take a 2-1 lead.

But Mbeumo collected a long ball from Nathan Collins, drove to the net and put a left-footed shot past Neto in the 93rd.

Mathias Jensen gave Brentford an early lead by beating Neto to the near post on a curling free kick from wide on the left in the seventh minute. Dominic Solanke equalized for the visitors in the 30th.

It’s the third league draw for the unbeaten Bees.

In the buildup to Brooks’ goal, Brentford’s Rico Henry tracked down a long ball and tried to pass back to goalkeeper Mark Flekken, but it was weakly struck and easily collected by Marcus Tavernier, who played it to Brooks at the far post to finish.

Neal Maupay did not dress for Brentford after returning to the club on Friday on a season-long loan from Everton. The striker scored 41 goals for Brentford over two seasons before leaving for Brighton in 2019.

Bournemouth expects newly signed midfielder Tyler Adams to return after the international break. The U.S. captain, who is nearly at full strength after hamstring surgery, transferred from relegated Leeds last month.

The Cherries have two draws and two losses in league play.

After the international break, Brentford faces Newcastle on Sept. 17, when Bournemouth hosts Chelsea.

Source: AP

Manchester United’s new goalkeeper Andre Onana has been recalled to Cameroon’s squad some nine months after he walked out on the team during the World Cup in Qatar.

Onana was named on Tuesday by coach Rigobert Song in the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi in Garoua on Sept. 12, where the Indomitable Lions need only a draw to guarantee a place at January’s finals in the Ivory Coast.

Onana, 27, left the Cameroon squad in Qatar last November after their opening group game against Switzerland following a dispute with Song over tactics and training.

The Cameroon Football Federation said he was suspended and had been sent home and he has not played for the country since, having announced his retirement from international football.

But on Tuesday at a press conference in Yaounde, Song denied there had been a problem with Onana and said it was natural that as the best available goalkeeper he was in the squad.

“There was never a problem with Andre, the door has always been open to him and we are happy he is coming back to join the group,” said Song.

Source: Reuters

Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) president Samuel Eto’o on Thursday urged his supporters not to give up following widespread criticisms of how he has been managing the football governing body.

“Peace and serenity to those who support me in my project to restore all the greatness to Cameroonian football. We endure the violence of adversity, but let’s not give in to it,” Eto’o said in a statement published on his Facebook page.

“Our intentions are noble, our strength is our faith in a better future for our young footballers. We will achieve this with the help of Cameroonians. Strength and courage to you, my friends,” the former Barcelona striker added.

The statement came barely two weeks after the Confederation of African Football announced that it had opened an investigation into “allegations of inappropriate conduct” by Eto’o following complaints from “several Cameroonian football stakeholders”.

Eto’o was elected the FECAFOOT president in 2021.

Source: Xinhuanet