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Afrique Sports | While euphoria has gripped Samuel Eto’o’s camp in the showdown with the Minister of Sports, sources close to the government deny any intervention from President Paul Biya in favor of the FECAFOOT president.
Jeune Afrique revealed that there was indeed intervention from Paul Biya to calm the tensions between FECAFOOT and the Ministry of Sports. The president reportedly asked the Minister of Sports to accept the hybrid solution proposed by FECAFOOT. Within the latter, several sources see this intervention as a victory, with the head of state ordering Narcisse Mouelle Kombi and his supporter Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh to back down.
From the same source, this recent development somewhat strengthens Samuel Eto’o against the Secretary-General of the Presidency, who nevertheless remains the main actor in the recruitment of Marc Brys. But nothing seems to be going in favor of Eto’o and his team.
Indeed, the Ministry of Sports has no intention of yielding regarding the already established technical staff. According to this department, “the head of state has not given any directive to the minister [of Sports] to accept any modification of the composition of the national team’s technical staff, appointed on April 2nd with his full consent.”
According to Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, his Secretary-General, the only technical staff validated by the State is the one designated by the ministry. “The State has not backed down against Samuel Eto’o. It is the State that employs the technical staff of the Indomitable Lions. The State cannot pay coaches it has not recruited,” he warned during a recent meeting at the Prime Minister’s office.
On that day, the Secretary-General of the Prime Minister’s office, Séraphin Magloire Fouda, had expressed his discontent towards the president of FECAFOOT, urging him to be more subdued. However, Samuel Eto’o maintained his decision to appoint his own staff, thus defying the Secretary-General of the Presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh – with whom he has been at odds for nearly a year – bearer of the “high agreement” from the head of state for the recruitment of Marc Brys and his team.
Thus, the showdown between the State and FECAFOOT is far from reaching its conclusion. Two weeks away from the third and fourth rounds of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the crisis remains open between FECAFOOT and the Ministry of Sports, which is determined not to give in to Samuel Eto’o.
