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Police in Cameroon have opened an investigation into claims that Samuel Eto\u2019o was part of a match-fixing scandal.<\/p>\n
The former Barcelona striker, who has been president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) since December 2021, was accused of helping to fix matches in Cameroon\u2019s second tier in July after a recording of him speaking to someone alleged to be Valentine Nkwain, the president of Victoria United and known as \u2018Bobdidy\u2019, was made public.<\/p>\n
According to\u00a0Camfoot, Eto\u2019o allegedly promised to promote the club from the second division by manipulating matches \u2013 a claim denied by the former striker and by Nkwain, who has said it was not his voice on the recording.<\/p>\n
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Police have confirmed in a letter, seen by the Guardian, that they have opened an investigation into alleged \u201cabuse of authority and corruption\u201d. They are understood to have interviewed several key witnesses involved in the case. The investigation will also look into wider accusations of corruption at Fecafoot during Eto\u2019o\u2019s tenure, which it is believed could involve up to 40 people.<\/p>\n
On the recording, Eto\u2019o is alleged to have informed Nkwain that \u201cthere are things we can do\u201d regarding a game in which Victoria were beaten 1-0 in December last year \u201cbut you have to be very discreet, brother\u201d. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll give you your three points and we will suspend the referee,\u201d he is alleged to have said. \u201cOpopo [Victoria\u2019s nickname] must go up to the first division. This is our goal. This is our federation. Victoria United will go up.\u201d Victoria went on to be promoted in April.<\/p>\n
Eto\u2019o told\u00a0the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in June that he had been \u201ctalking to a friend, someone who invests in football and wants to make his club one of the best in Cameroon\u201d. He said: \u201cI just reassured him by saying that I would have done everything possible to avoid any refereeing errors against him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news comes after a group of Cameroon\u2019s football officials called on Fifa to take action against Eto\u2019o after a series of public incidents, including a \u201cviolent altercation\u201d with an Algerian journalist at the World Cup in Qatar last year.<\/p>\n
The group \u2013 which includes Pierre Semengue, president of the Professional Football League of Cameroon \u2013 have written a letter jointly addressing Fifa\u2019s president, Gianni Infantino, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) president, Patrice Motsepe, questioning how the former striker has been allowed to continue \u201cto illegally impose himself on the Fecafoot presidency\u201d.<\/p>\n
An investigation into \u201ccertain alleged improper conduct\u201d of Eto\u2019o\u00a0was opened\u00a0by CAF in early August but no action has been taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a word has been heard from Fifa,\u201d the letter reads, \u201cdespite numerous complaints and reminders from Cameroonian football actors. How can Fifa continue to remain silent in the face of so many scandals that compromise public confidence in sporting ethics and the sincerity of matches?\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter was also critical of Infantino after he and Eto\u2019o were pictured together earlier this month in France to discuss \u201cfootball development\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sad reality \u2026 is that Africa remains a kind of enclave where you can take liberties with the ethics and exemplarity that sports leaders should embody,\u201d the letter says. \u201cCan you imagine Fifa and Uefa remaining silent when the president of a European football federation is suspected of match-fixing, with audio recordings to back it up?\u201d<\/p>\n
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