2023-11-24 15:30:52
Former international Samuel Eto’o, now president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), is not about to forget the welcome given to the Indomitable Lions in Libya from November 18 to 21. On Tuesday, the five-time African champions faced the Knights of the Mediterranean in Benghazi, during qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. “We witnessed, stunned, the violation of the rules of reception and fair play”denounced the leader in a statement on the Fecafoot Facebook page, mentioning “an atmosphere of hostility at odds with the noble values of football”.
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The site camfoot.com had earlier mentioned the accommodation conditions for the national selection. The Benghazi neighborhood where his hotel was located was reportedly without water and electricity for two days, and internet access restricted. During the meeting, monkey cries were aimed at the players, who were frequently blinded by lasers. Samuel Eto’o would also have been refused access to the presidential platform. According to several Cameroonian media, Fecafoot is considering filing a complaint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Lasers, bottle throwing and racist insults
Having just returned to France, Fabrice Ondoa, the goalkeeper of the Indomitable Lions and Nîmes, confirmed to Monde the treatment ” awful “ inflicted on the Cameroonians upon their arrival on November 18. Not only were accommodation and food « really very average”more ” it was worse during the match, relates the international goalkeeper. Our national anthem was whistled and cut. I received bottles of water, including one on the head, because the protective net between the pitch and a stand was torn. »
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Fabrice Ondoa also confirms the monkey cries: “I was entitled to it and so were my teammates. The lasers were non-stop. It’s unbearable, but above all dangerous. We reported it to the fourth official, but he did nothing. I don’t know what would have happened if we had won, the atmosphere was so hostile! » To top it off, striker Olivier Ntcham – author of his team’s goal – claims that a Libyan player threw racist insults at him in English during the match.
The Cameroonians left Benghazi a few hours after the final whistle, not without having to endure a final annoyance when boarding the plane. “When you experience such a stay, you just want to get out of there quickly. But at the airport, we found our luggage on the ground, on the tarmac. I had never experienced such a welcome! It is unacceptable that such things are happening in 2023, without officials reacting”, fumes Fabrice Ondoa. When contacted, CAF did not respond to our requests.
“I almost took a brake disc on my head”
Former Indomitable Lions captain Patrick Mboma is not surprised by the welcome given to his compatriots. In June 2000, during a qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup, won (3-0) against Libya in Tripoli, the Cameroonians were entitled to a similar reception. “Our hotel was so rotten that we slept outside, then in the lobby, to protest, so that they could find us a better one. And at the stadium, there was a rain of projectiles, remembers the former player. I almost took a car brake disc to the head. »
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Other African teams – Togo and the Democratic Republic of Congo – were in Benghazi in November to face Sudan, which cannot host international matches due to the war taking place there. “The stay went normally”, assures Guy Akpovy, president of the Togolese Football Federation, even if he is not surprised by the accusations of racism towards Cameroonian players. Other teams, he said, experienced the same horrors. Angola, Cape Verde, Mauritius and Eswatini, the Libyans’ next opponents in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, have been warned.
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