2024-05-02 13:02:05
It is a real bomb which has just exploded in the microcosm of Cameroonian football. After the 11 million FCFA claimed by the Massao Hotel Palace in Yaoundé, it is the turn of the Suita Hotel, located in the upscale Bastos district of the capital, to brandish an unpaid invoice of 4,536,100 FCFA against Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (FECAFOOT). A new financial scandal which seriously shakes the credibility of the former captain of the Indomitable Lions.
A scathing formal notice for unpaid stays and seminars
In a vitriolic letter of which 237online.com obtained a copy, the management of the Suita Hotel does not mince its words. “Unless there is an error or omission on our part, to date you have still not paid the sum of 4,536,100 FCFA corresponding to your various accommodations, seminars and drinks”asserts the establishment, exasperated by “a multitude of reminders” remained a dead letter. A formal notice which has the effect of a thunderclap in a sky already darkened by business.
8 days to settle, otherwise beware of justice!
The Suita Hotel does not intend to stop there. If Samuel Eto’o does not pay his entire debt within eight days of receipt of the letter, the establishment threatens “to initiate legal recovery proceedings” the costs of which will be borne by the president of FECAFOOT. A bleak prospect for the former Barça scorer, who also risks having to pay late payment interest. A real financial and legal headache in perspective.
Eto’o’s credibility seriously damaged
Beyond the sums at stake, it is the very credibility of Samuel Eto’o which is seriously damaged by these cascading revelations. How can a man of his stature, at the head of the most prestigious sports federation in the country, accumulate such slates without flinching? Questions abound and unease grows among Cameroonian football fans, who discover in a less than stellar light the man who until now embodied excellence and professionalism.
Faced with this new scandal, FECAFOOT remains walled in deafening silence for the time being. No official communication, no explanation, no denial. An attitude that only fuels the wildest speculations and rumors. Is Samuel Eto’o in financial difficulties to the point of being unable to honor his debts? Is FECAFOOT going through a cash crisis? So many questions that remain unanswered for the moment.
This affair casts a worrying shadow over the governance of Cameroonian football. How can we have confidence in an institution whose president accumulates unpaid bills and threats of legal action? How can we believe in the transparency and financial rigor of FECAFOOT when its leader seems incapable of paying his own debts? The entire structure of national football is weakened by these revelations, at the very moment when the Indomitable Lions need serenity and stability more than ever.
It is time for Samuel Eto’o to break his silence and explain himself to the nation. Cameroonians, football fans but also taxpayers, have the right to know how their federation’s funds are managed. They have the right to expect exemplary behavior, integrity and responsibility from their sports leaders. Otherwise, the very confidence in the football institutions risks irremediably crumbling. The situation is serious and the coming days will be decisive for the future of Cameroonian football.