Cameroon Football Federation REJECT Samuel Eto’o’s resignation as president after disappointing AFCON last-16 exit… with the former striker overseeing several controversial moments during his tenure

Samuel Eto’o has seen his attempts to resign from his role as president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) rejected.

Eto’o, one of the greatest Cameroonian footballers in all-time, scored 56 goals in 118 caps for his country.

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.

However, his reign hasn’t been plane sailing with several controversial moments over the past two-and-a-bit years.

For example, Eto’o reportedly has an ongoing feud with Andre Onana which has seen the Man United keeper endure a toxic relationship with his national team. This included the 27-year-old being sent home from Cameroon’s World Cup squad in 2022 and retiring from international football, before reversing his decision last year.

Cameroon crashed out of AFCON at the last-16 stage after a disappointing 2-0 loss to Nigeria

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He was also involved in a violent altercation with a supporter in Qatar, while a recent report in The Athletic alleged that Eto’o and his close aides have been accused of being involved in match-fixing, abuse of power, physical threats, inciting violence and spreading false information in Cameroon, with CAF said to be looking into various claims. Eto’o and his lawyers have previously denied the claims, labelling them ‘calumnious rumours’.

Meanwhile, he pleaded guilty to a $3.8m (£2.96m) tax fraud in June 2022 in relation to his image rights while at Barcelona, with Eto’o handed a suspended 22-month prison sentence and fined $1.8m (£1.4m). 

And, following a disappointing AFCON tournament that saw Rigobert Song’s side only just scrape through the group stages following a dramatic win over Gambia before a 2-0 loss to Nigeria in the last-16, Eto’o tendered his resignation.

The former striker was a visible presence at the tournament, with Eto’o shedding tears as Cameroon reached the knockout stages, but the pressure had ramped up on him following their exit.

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.

Eto’o has been involved in several controversial moments since becoming president in 2021

His ongoing feud with Man United keeper Andre Onana has been an unwelcome distraction

The Cameroon Football Federation said in a statement they had rejected Eto’o’s resignation

‘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.

They achieved a third place finish at AFCON 2021, but coupled with the last-16 exit this time around, they also crashed out in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup and it remains to be seen what happens with Eto’o next.