The Cameroon football federation (Fecafoot) have rejected Samuel Eto’o’s resignation as president amid allegations of improper conduct and corruption.
Former Barcelona striker Eto’o tendered his resignation on Monday, just a few days on from Cameroon’s disappointing AFCON last-16 exit at the hands of Nigeria.
According to ESPN, Eto’o offered to step down at an executive committee meeting that was called to assess the failed AFCON campaign, while encouraging other Fecafoot members “to do likewise in good faith”.
Fecafoot have since released a statement confirming that Eto’o’s resignation has been rejected, which reads: “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 Dec. 11, 2021.”
The Investigation
Eto’o has received backing from his Fecafoot colleagues despite being dogged by serious allegations over the past year.
Last week, The Athletic claimed to have seen WhatsApp messages and audio recordings allegedly supporting a series of accusations, including “match-fixing, abuse of power, physical threats, inciting violence and spreading false information in Cameroon”.
FIFA have received a file containing details of the allegations. These allegations are also being investigated by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Eto’o was already under investigation from CAF over allegations from “several Cameroonian football stakeholders”.
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But the former Inter Milan and Chelsea player was “presumed to be innocent until an appropriate judicial body concludes otherwise”.
During his time as a full Cameroon international, Eto’o scored 56 goals in 118 appearances.
Also, he played at four World Cups.
Right now, he still holds the record for the most African Player of the Year awards (four).
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