The Cameroon Football Federation has rejected Samuel Eto’o’s resignation as president, following their sad AFCON last-16 defeat.
Eto’o, one of Cameroon’s best footballers of all time, has 56 goals in 118 caps for his country.
He assumed the presidency of Fecafoot in December 2021. However, his tenure has been tarnished by numerous problems.
Eto’o apparently has an ongoing conflict with Andre Onana, which has resulted in the Manchester United goalkeeper having a toxic relationship with his national squad.The 27-year-old was kicked out of Cameroon’s World Cup squad in 2022 and announced his retirement from international football until changing his mind last year.
Eto’o and his close aides have been accused of match-fixing, abuse of power, physical threats, inciting violence, and spreading false information in Cameroon, according to a report in The Athletic. CAF is investigating the allegations. Eto’o and his attorneys have repeatedly disputed the allegations, calling them ‘calumnious rumours’.
Meanwhile, in June 2022, he pleaded guilty to a $3.8 million (£2.96 million) tax fraud involving his image rights while at Barcelona. Eto’o received a suspended 22-month prison sentence and a $1.8 million (£1.4 million) fine.
Following a disastrous AFCON competition in which Rigobert Song’s side advanced from the group stages thanks to a stunning win over Gambia before losing 2-0 to Nigeria in the final 16, Eto’o resigned.
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.’
Cameroon are currently 46th in the world rankings, the seventh highest-ranked African team.
After a hugely impressive career for the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea, the former striker – who won the Champions League three times and AFCON twice – took on the presidency of Fecafoot in December 2021.