Cameroon Football Federation rejects Samuel Eto’o’s resignation as president after disappointing AFCON last-16 exit

The Cameroon Football Federation has rejected Samuel Eto’o’s resignation as president after disappointing AFCON last-16 exit

Eto’o, one of the greatest Cameroonian footballers in all-time, scored 56 goals in 118 caps for his country.

He took on the presidency of Fecafoot in December 2021. But his reign has been marred by several controversies.

Eto’o reportedly has an ongoing feud with Andre Onana which has seen the Man United keeper endure a toxic relationship with his national team.

This included the 27-year-old being sent home from Cameroon’s World Cup squad in 2022 and retiring from international football, before reversing his decision last year.

He was also involved in a violent altercation with a supporter in Qatar, while a recent report in The Athletic alleged that Eto’o and his close aides have been accused of being involved in match-fixing, abuse of power, physical threats, inciting violence and spreading false information in Cameroon, with CAF said to be looking into various claims. Eto’o and his lawyers have previously denied the claims, labelling them ‘calumnious rumours’.

Meanwhile, he pleaded guilty to a $3.8m (£2.96m) tax fraud in June 2022 in relation to his image rights while at Barcelona, with Eto’o handed a suspended 22-month prison sentence and fined $1.8m (£1.4m). 

Following a disappointing AFCON tournament that saw Rigobert Song’s side survive through the group stages following a dramatic win over Gambia before a 2-0 loss to Nigeria in the last-16, Eto’o tendered his resignation.

However, in a statement on Monday, Fecafoot announced they had rejected Eto’o’s resignation.

‘The Executive Committee of the Cameroon Football Federation held a session this Monday, February 5 at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel,’ they said.

‘The agenda focused on evaluating the performance of the senior men’s national team at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

‘At the beginning of the meeting, the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, Mr Eto’o Fils Samuel, tendered his resignation to the members of the federal executive organ, inviting them to do likewise in good faith.

At the end of discussions and subsequent deliberations, the members of the Executive Committee decided to maintain their current mandates and thus unanimously rejected the President’s resignation.

‘Thereby renewing their confidence in him to continue with the same spirit of reconstruction and development of Cameroon football at all levels as envisaged in his plan adopted by the elective General Assembly of December 11, 2021.’