Cameroon

17, February 2022

Letter to the FECAFOOT President, Samuel Eto’o ⁰

Dear Mr. President,

Congratulations to you and your team for the just-ended meeting in Limbe, the Southwest region’s beautiful and friendly port city!

It was also a pleasure to know that the deliberations ended in the appointment of new members of your institution’s executive committee.

However, like many people of the English-speaking minority, I was very disappointed to know that not even a single English-speaking Cameroonian was appointed to your executive committee.

Other English-speaking Cameroonians have already registered their utter disagreement and disappointment with this decision, but I would still like to add my voice to theirs to ensure that the language issue which is part of the many issues which have caused the conflict in the country is taken care of anytime a major decision is taken in your institution.

Many towns and villages in the two English-speaking regions remain inaccessible to many patriotic and hardworking Cameroonians because of the war that is playing out there, and like many Cameroonians, I thought as a younger person, you would always make decisions taking into consideration such a serious matter.

I know it is not too late for this decision to be corrected, but if it does not get corrected, know the enormous support you enjoy in those two regions will take a nosedive. If we want peace, then we must always practice justice!

Also, another issue is that even before your election, your communication team did not incorporate English-speaking Cameroonians into whatever communication plan it had. This has caused many English-speaking Cameroonians around the world not to receive important communication products in time in the language they understand better.

I know language services cost a fortune anywhere in the world, but if we, as a nation, have opted to run a bilingual system in Cameroon, we must accept it with all its inconveniences. I would like to underscore that Cameroon has a huge pool of experienced and effective English-speaking translators in Yaounde who will be very willing to join your team if called upon.

In this regard, I am offering to help your communication team with any translation and writing services it may need. I would, however, be prompt to add that my services will entirely honorary. It is a personal decision not to receive any payment from any Cameroon government department.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Joachim Arrey

arreyjoachim@hotmail.com

15, February 2022

Indomitable Lions coach to stay despite Africa Cup of Nations fiasco ⁰

Cameroon’s Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi said on Monday that national football team head coach Antonio Conceicao will not be sacked despite failing to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy.

“Every time we have won a trophy, it has been with a foreign coach. What is more important now is the [World Cup] playoffs in March. The priority is not to destabilize the team by decapitating it,” Kombi told reporters amid widespread calls to sack the coach.

After Cameroon finished third at the AFCON a week ago, some Cameroonians have demanded the sacking of Conceicao whom they blame for “very poor coaching” during the tournament.

“We are in a phase of rebuilding. When we look at the record under the Conceicao era, we have two defeats out of 23 matches, and 14 matches without conceding a goal,” said Kombi, adding that authorities were confident in his skills but will watch out for any managerial fault.

Source: Xinhuanet

10, February 2022

Frustrated Biya commends “honourable” AFCON performance of Indomitable Lions ⁰

Cameroonian President Paul Biya commended the national football team, Indomitable Lions, for an “honorable” performance during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) that was hosted by the Central African nation.

Biya said, despite the fact that the team won what he described as a “small final”, they needed to prepare hard for future competitions.

“The performance of Cameroonian players probably did not meet all the expectations of our fellow citizens. This is why I urge our Indomitable Lions to continue to be always more motivated and united, in order to prepare well for the important future sporting championships,” Biya said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The Indomitable Lions won bronze in the competition after beating Burkina Faso through a penalty shootout.

The four-week championship ended on Sunday with Senegal emerging champions.

Source: Xinhuanet

9, February 2022

Open Letter to Samuel Eto’o, FECAFOOT President ⁰

Dear Mr. Eto’o,

After two months following your election as the president of FECAFOOT, I feel I should write to you, especially after the successful organization of the Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON). A few unfortunate situations almost marred the event, but the population’s response and the government’s determination to deliver went a long way in mitigating the impact of those incidents.

Over the last two months, you have demonstrated that you have a sound understanding of football and people management evidenced by your approach to dealing with football players and the unfortunate in our society.

During the competition, I watched you giving pep talks to the indomitable lions. Instead of donning a suit and sitting at the grandstands, you preferred to ride the buses with the players. Such an attitude only breeds confidence and unites the players who look up to you for inspiration.

Even when the players lost a match, you knew how to raise their spirits. You clearly demonstrated to them that failure is not the opposite of success, but a stepping-stone to higher heights and I am sure that you have bred faith in them.

With the AfCON now history, I believe it is time for us to draw the lessons which will help the national team and the country, going forward. The country’s national team emerged third in a competition that took place in Cameroon. This is not the best result, and it falls short of the population’s expectation. But the spectacular manner wherein the boys pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat made Cameroonians to forget the disappointment resulting from the defeat Egypt handed to the country’s national team. Your pep talks had clearly taught the boys that the difference between the impossible and possible resides in man’s determination and their determination brought home a bronze medal.

While the country basks in its consolation, we must understand that as a nation, we must prepare well ahead of time if we have to continue winning trophies. There are many competitions ahead of us. We still have to lock horns with Algeria and if we do not leave Algeria with a bloodshot eye, Cameroon may not be represented in Qatar.

To ensure the county’s national team stays on the winning side, FECAFOOT must establish a talent scouting mechanism which should help the national team coach identify talent across the country. This is all the more urgent as the current crop of players is aging and clearly showing signs of fatigue.

There is a huge talent pool in Cameroon. Identifying talent is nothing new in Cameroon. Claude Le Roy, a former coach of the Indomitable Lions, did this when he arrived in Cameroon in the 1980s and this initiative resulted in the discovery of talented players like Victor Ndip Akem and Tataw Eta Stephen who were little known in Cameroon before his arrival and that initiative brought immeasurable glory and recognition to Cameroon.

Based on your own story, it was the same Claude Le Roy who gave you a chance for you to play in the national team. He had identified you as a young talented boy whose skills needed to be developed and honed, and his decision turned out to be right as you have brought fame and joy to millions of Cameroonians as a global football icon.

I understand you are determined to rebuild the country’s shattered football championship which has faced neglect for years. This will be a great move as it will enable many young men to ply their trade and hone their skills. A good national championship will serve as a solid foundation for the country’s national team.

Local talent can also deliver beyond expectation. All the players need is someone who can breathe faith in them. Egypt has proven that a team made mostly of local players can be a threat to many national teams on the continent. If Egyptians can do it, Cameroonians can also do it! Cameroon has the resources and I strongly hold that you can convince the political leaders to change the way they see football and footballers.

The fact is that achieving much in this sector will require much financial resources, but if the country continues to see football as a tool for entertainment, then Cameroonians should not be disappointed when the national team loses matches. Any endeavor that is under-resourced will surely not deliver the results expected of it.

While financial resources are hard to come by, I know you will take the right steps to entice and attract the private sector to participate in the development of the country’s football sector. I have been seeing you signing partnership agreements with some companies and international organizations, and this gives hope to millions of Cameroonians. I would urge you to continue in this path and you should know that millions of Cameroonians stand with you in your dream to give the country’s youths a fighting chance in life.

While the private sector and other organizations are likely sources of sponsorship, I would suggest that we also look inward. During the just ended AfCON, Cameroonians were proud to wear the country’s colors. All types of memorabilia were sold. More than ten million Cameroonians happily bought the national team’s jersey, flag, and other memorabilia to demonstrate their support for their national team.

Unfortunately, this money went to private pockets. A good national team jersey sold for CFAF 10,000 and if 10,000,000 proud Cameroonians bought these jerseys from a FECAFOOT designated store, FECAFOOT would have netted about CFAF 100,000,000,000 in a month. Such money could go a long way in financing football development in the country. Remember! The jersey is just one item. There were also other items purchased by the happy people of Cameroon.

The challenge you now face is for you to work with the political leaders for the establishment of a “Lions Boutique” where all jerseys would be sold. The politicians should come up with a law banning the production of national team jerseys and other memorabilia by individuals who do not even pay taxes.

There are other ways FECAFOOT can raise money to develop football in Cameroon. I will be happy to discuss that with you or your representative in private.

Have a good day and May the Lord grant you more energy as you seek to raise football standards in Cameroon.

Sincerely,

Joachim Arrey

arreyjoachim@hotmail.com

8, February 2022

AFCON and French Cameroun: there was no mention of Marc-Vivien Foé at the tournament ⁰

The tragedy of Marc-Vivien Foé’s death hits much harder at his gravesite.

It overlooks a soccer field, but not the kind the late Cameroon and Manchester City player wanted. The goalposts are part of a shoddy metal frame, unpainted and leaning to one side. The field is bare earth and lined with trash.

There’s a crumbling building nearby with windows and parts of walls missing. The whole site once became a haven for criminals and drug users.

This was meant to be Foé’s dream.

When Foé collapsed on a field while playing for his country at FIFA’s Confederations Cup in 2003 and died in an awful moment for world soccer, he was in the process of building a sports complex and school in the eastern outskirts of his hometown of Yaounde. It was to be his legacy, his gift to his people and a precious resource for budding young soccer players in a part of the world where they get little help.

Foé never got to finish it and instead it became his final resting place.

But at Foé’s funeral, when he was buried with military honors and hailed as a “fallen national hero,” promises were made by representatives of the Cameroon government that the project would be completed in his memory. Nearly 20 years later, it’s in ruins. The only part of the complex that isn’t broken down is the marble block that marks Foé’s grave.

Foé’s nephew, Nama Mvogo, says he visits every week to clean the grave. Every time, he’s struck by how forsaken it appears.

“I feel that my uncle has been abandoned,” Mvogo said. “Even to come and see his tomb, (there’s) nothing. It’s deplorable.”

The last month has been a painful one for Mvogo as he watched his central African country host the African Cup of Nations, the continent’s biggest soccer tournament, for the first time in 50 years. It’s a tournament Foé won twice with Cameroon and Mvogo thought it would be the perfect opportunity to revive Foé’s project, or at least recognize him.

But there was no mention of Foé at the tournament, Mvogo said, and watching Cameroon’s current team play at this African Cup invoked nothing but sadness for him.

Foé played for Cameroon for a decade and also became a popular player in England with West Ham and Manchester City. He died at the age of 28 from an undiagnosed heart condition, which was discovered in the days after he slumped to the ground in the center circle at the Gerland stadium in Lyon, France during the Confederations Cup semifinal against Colombia. It united world soccer in grief.

Tens of thousands lined the streets of Yaounde for his funeral procession. Then-FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Cameroon President Paul Biya attended the service but Foé’s true value as a person was only revealed when an unknown 14-year-old boy stood up and explained how the soccer star had been paying for him to attend a special center for the disabled.

Since then the academy project fell into disrepair. Mvogo said its future is complicated and Foé’s father and widow, who live in France, and the government haven’t been able to work together to revive it.

But it’s not completely abandoned.

Two small soccer schools make use of the land, somehow managing to train and play games in the dirt near Foé’s grave. The original field Foé marked out was overgrown with palm trees long ago, Mvogo said.

Goalkeeper David Neabo, who plays for an under-9 team, stands under those crooked goalposts clutching a ball. His coach, Ewodo Yves Laurent, said he still invokes Foé’s memory to inspire the kids, who weren’t even born when Foé died and can’t really grasp his success from the dilapidated state of the academy.

“I tell them about Marc-Vivien Foé, who also motivated me to come here,” the coach said. “When I look at what he did, what he became in life, I ask myself why not sustain his dream?”

The only image of Foé at the complex is a statue of him in Cameroon’s team uniform, his right arm raised in celebration. But its proportions are not quite right and the figure appears stunted and doesn’t resemble the powerful 6-foot-2 midfielder Foé was. Years of neglect have chipped away at it and Foé’s green Cameroon shirt is faded and discolored.

Mvogo doesn’t know if his uncle’s dream will ever be realized but a recent incident did give him hope for the future. He came across Eric Djemba-Djemba, the former Manchester United midfielder and Foé’s Cameroon teammate, visiting the grave.

“He said he couldn’t afford to be in Cameroon and not stop here,” Mvogo recalled.

Foé’s memory, at least, remains alive for some.

Culled from AP

7, February 2022

Tennis: Yannick Noah back home in Cameroon as a local chief ⁰

Yannick Noah has been a tennis star and a rock star. Now he has a new role in life; chief of his village in Cameroon. It was the dream of his father, Zacharie, who raised his son to become the French Open champion and who saw his grandson, Joakim, become a star in the NBA.

When Zacharie Noah died in 2017, Yannick Noah made a decision to return to the home of his birth, the country he left when he was 12, in order to fulfil his father’s dreams. Now, the 61-year-old Noah is chief of a former village called Etoudi, now a part of Yaoundé.

YANNICK NOAH, SON OF ZACHARIE

In a touching video published by Brut, the 1983 Roland-Garros champion takes cameras around his village, where he is greeted by children at his old school. Pointing out the school that his mother founded, his home and the bedroom that is now a classroom, Noah’s role is to watch over both the children and the elders. The people call him “Papi Yannick” or “Tonton Yannick

Yannick Noah

“I am the patriarch of what used to be a village and now it is one of the neighbourhoods of Yaoundé,” Noah says. “This is my town.”

It was only when his father passed away in 2017 that Noah felt ready to take on the job. In that year, France won the Davis Cup under Noah’s captaincy

“It was like a calling. And his crazy dream was for me to come. And not just that I would take care of it but that I would be there. I don’t think I could have come three years ago, it was not the time. And then, all of a sudden, it was time. It’s my destiny to be here.”

Noah says his biggest job now is to get to grips again with the local dialect but said he’d find a way. “It’s a real responsibility, but I’m a fighter,” he says, with a smile.

Source: Tennismajors

7, February 2022

Africa Cup of Nations: Those who took care of the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo were rewarded in Yaoundé ⁰

‘But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee’ (Luke 10.33-35).

When the Prince of Peace spoke, he spoke volumes. The words of Jesus Christ were pearls and rubies and diamonds, and often they meant not only the finite meaning which we can put into practice, but infinite meanings which only He can fulfill. The political leadership of the Republic of Senegal was wise when they carefully weighed the sentences of the Saviour and by extrapolation Issa.

In 1992, Senegal hosted the Africa Cup of Nations. It was the 18th edition and the field expanded to twelve teams, split into four groups of three; the top two teams in each group advanced to the quarterfinals. Ivory Coast won its first championship, beating Ghana on penalty kicks 11−10 after a goalless draw.

The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon knocked out a great Senegalese side captained by the renowned Jules Boucande now of blessed memory. Nobody ever imagined that after the 1992 fiasco, the Teranga Lions of Senegal will create history by winning the country’s first — and, to date, only – Africa Cup of Nations.

The scenes at the Olembe stadium in Yaoundé remains the most memorable and intense moments the Senegalese nation and its people have ever experienced and for sure it is going to transcend football.

But for the host nation, Cameroon, the Senegalese triumph has far reaching social repercussions and has instilled a sense of disunity among French and English speaking Cameroonians and arguably reminded the Cameroonian people that God is a rewarder of nations who diligently seek him.

Despite that trauma was huge for Senegal and necessitated a rebuild ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the big men in Dakar were all behind their manager Aliou Cissé.

The Teranga Lions had a pressure-relieving victory Group B stage amid a 0-0 draw with Guinea at the Kouekong Stadium. However, there were bigger tests to come and breaks of good fortune, as well as Cameroon support.

You can have all the talent in the world, the best football players, good chemistry, support from fans or any other advantages you can think of, but you will always need a bit of luck to win big trophies. That is what the spirit of the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo provided for the Teranga Lions.

The Lions of Senegal worked so hard but the father of the Cameroonian nation, the late President Ahidjo gave the Senegalese an incredible mental strength. They were ready for anything that could be thrown at them by the Egyptians. And they had an answer for everything. The cohesion in the group headed by Sadio Mane was marvelous. The spirit of Ahmadou Ahidjo-a leader who had so much passion for the beautiful game was really behind Senegal.

Big games belong to big players. There is no bigger game in Africa than the Africa Cup of Nations final. That’s where Senegal wanted to shine and they did just that.

The impact of the Senegalese victory on Cameroonian soil is so special because the remains of late President Ahmadou Ahidjo and his wife are still in Dakar. For the first time, Senegalese people of all origins have something in common, their football team. They will celebrate all together; enjoy life as a society all together.

Through sport and football, those who took care of the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo have been rewarded.

By Besong Esther Agbor

6, February 2022

Mane scores winning kick as Senegal beat Egypt in Cup of Nations final shoot-out ⁰

Sadio Mane made up for missing from the spot in normal time to score the decisive penalty as Senegal overcame Mohamed Salah’s Egypt 4-2 in a shoot-out to win their first Africa Cup of Nations title after Sunday’s final finished goalless at the end of extra time.

Mane had seen Mohamed Abou Gabal save his seventh-minute penalty at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde but Egypt could not capitalise as they went all the way to extra time for the fourth consecutive game at this Cup of Nations.

Salah was due to step up to take Egypt’s fifth penalty but with Mohamed Abdelmonem hitting the post and Mohanad Lasheen having his kick saved by Edouard Mendy, the Liverpool star did not get his chance and was already on the verge of tears as his club team-mate Mane prepared to strike the decisive blow.

After two previous final defeats, Senegal are Cup of Nations winners at last, while Egypt missed out on a record-extending eighth continental crown that would also have been a first for Salah.

Senegal’s celebrations followed a disappointing final, the fifth in the last 11 editions of the tournament to be decided in a shoot-out after a goalless draw.

Indeed Egypt had already twice won finals that had been settled on penalties after finishing 0-0, and they had already won in the same manner twice in the last fortnight, against the Ivory Coast in the last 16 and the hosts in the semi-finals.

Not Salah’s night

This time their luck ran out as the tournament ended at the venue where eight people died and 38 were injured in a crush on January 24.

The country’s 88-year-old President, Paul Biya, attended the closing ceremony where he was paraded in an open-top car to hysterical crowds along with his wife, First Lady Chantal Biya.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and CAF chief Patrice Motsepe were also in attendance although the biggest cheers were reserved for Cameroon great Samuel Eto’o, now the head of the country’s football federation, when his face appeared on the big screens.

A four-time African player of the year and two-time AFCON winner, Eto’o is one of the continent’s all-time great footballers, but this final brought together Africa’s current superstar duo in Salah and Mane.

Desperate to make up for losing the 2019 final to Algeria, Senegal had a golden early chance to take the lead when outstanding left-back Saliou Ciss was chopped down by Abdelmonem in the box.

Mane stepped up, but his kick was too close to the middle of the goal and Abou Gabal was able to save.

Salah needed nearly half an hour to make a genuine impact with a jinking run in from the right and a shot easily saved by Mendy, and the Chelsea goalkeeper then produced an excellent stop to tip a Salah effort over just before half-time.

Extra time again

Aliou Cisse’s Senegal team boast a plethora of stars based at major European clubs while Salah and Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny are exceptions in an Egyptian side still largely based at home.

Carlos Queiroz’s team are masters of the dark arts and the Portuguese coach himself was suspended here after losing his temper in the semi-final and being sent off.

Their coaching staff pulled the strings on the touchline, moving Salah into a central role after an hour, and substitute centre-forward Marwan Hamdy missed a glorious chance soon after as he headed wide from point-blank range.

By then it was clear that Egypt were willing to go to extra time again, sure that they could rely on more heroics from their goalkeeper.

Abou Gabal, nicknamed Gabaski, clawed away Boulaye Dia’s 100th-minute header after a fine cross by Ciss, and he also kept out a Bamba Dieng piledriver in the second period of extra time.

With Mendy saving from Hamdy at the other end, penalties were inevitable, and it proved to be Senegal’s night with Bouna Sarr their only player to miss his kick.

Source: AFP

6, February 2022

Salah or Mané? African Cup final revolves around 2 Liverpool stars ⁰

Egypt or Senegal? Or maybe a more absorbing question for world soccer fans: Mohamed Salah or Liverpool teammate Sadio Mané?

Sunday’s African Cup of Nations final in Cameroon will center on two of the continent’s biggest stars, now global stars, when Salah’s Egypt tries to reclaim its lost glory against Mané’s Senegal, which is seeking a first title and the right to finally call itself the best in Africa.

The two forwards will be on opposing sides at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde and while their teams are playing for bigger rewards, there will be significant focus on who wins the personal battle between the club mates.

One of them is set for unrestrained joy and his first major title with his country. One is set for more misery. Salah lost in the final with Egypt in 2017, and Mané was inconsolable after Senegal lost in the final in 2019.

Mané partly predicted the matchup in a video he posted on social media at the start of the African Cup. He was cheekily addressing Liverpool teammates Salah and Naby Keita of Guinea when he said he knew he was going to face one of them in the final, he just didn’t know which.

“Unfortunately I can’t play against two teams in the final so I have to play against one,” Mané said. “Which of you?”

Turned out to be Egypt after the North Africans took the hard road to the final, beating Ivory Coast on penalties in the round of 16, Morocco in extra time in the quarterfinals and host Cameroon in another shootout in the semifinals.

That game against Cameroon saw Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz given a red card for his angry protests against some of the referee’s decisions and he will be banned from the touchline for the final.

Egypt raised the possibility of the final being put back a day to Monday to help them recover because they played their semifinal on Thursday, while Senegal had an extra day to prepare after beating Burkina Faso 3-1 on Wednesday. The Confederation of African Football hasn’t agreed to that request and the final goes ahead as scheduled.

It’s turned out to be an ideal climax for the African Cup and its attempts to attract more attention than usual. They will be watching in Merseyside, said Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.

“They (Salah and Mané) are superstars there so the pressure they had on their shoulders was massive, and how they deal with it, I’m really proud of them,” Klopp said. “We will watch it, definitely.”

Both players lived up to their big reputations at the African Cup.

Mané scored Senegal’s first goal of the tournament and was on target again in the round of 16 and the semifinals, when he inspired the win over Burkina Faso by setting up one goal and scoring another.

Likewise, Salah delivered the goal for Egypt’s first win in Cameroon, buried the decisive penalty in the shootout against Ivory Coast in the last 16 and scored again in the quarterfinals against Morocco.

One of them will also end up being part of a landmark moment for their country at the African Cup.

Egypt is the record seven-time African champion but having won three straight titles in 2006, ’08 and ’10 in the pre-Salah era, it failed to qualify at all for the next three tournaments when Salah was on the team. Egypt nearly returned to its pedestal in 2017, when it lost to Cameroon in the final.

Egypt now has arguably the best player in the world in Salah, its captain. He said the team must “keep our feet on the ground.”

“But … we are having a very good tournament,” Salah added.

For years, Senegal has had to carry the label of being the best team never to win an African Cup. Senegal made the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2002, an achievement that many believed would be the start of a run of success in Africa. Two decades later, it still has no African Cup titles.

Senegal’s story could finally change on Sunday.

“I think you can see on my face how happy I am,” Mané said after making the final.

Source: AP soccer

6, February 2022

Africa Cup of Nations: Remarkable comeback gives Indomitable Lions third place ⁰

Cameroon have finished 3rd in the Africa cup of Nations after coming from 3 goals down before winning 5-3 in the penalty shootout.

Burkina Faso surprisingly beat the host nation 2-nil in the 1st half and Djibril Ouattara scored the 3rd before the hour mark. But, Cameroon responded in a superb fashion as Stephane Bahoken pulled one back in the 71st minute. Then, Vincent Aboubakar netted twice in a span of 3 minutes to tie the match at 3-all in the regulation time and the match went to penalties without any extra time.

The 5-time winner then converted all 5 of their spot-kick to finish 3rd. The final of the tournament will be held on Sunday and Egypt will face Senegal to extend their 7-time winner record while Senegal are bidding to claim their 1st continental title.