Long time superstar of African soccer, Samuel Eto’o will start a new life: the former striker of the Indomitable Lions was elected Saturday president of the Cameroon Football Federation.
The 40-year-old former Barcelona and Inter Milan player beat outgoing president Seidou Mbombo Njoya, who was elected in 2018 but whose election, contested by several Cameroonian soccer players, was annulled in mid-January by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Of the 74 votes cast by the federation’s members, 43 went to Eto’o, a very popular figure in his country, compared with 31 for the outgoing president.
A total of seven candidates had declared themselves, but three of them withdrew a few days before the election, supporting Samuel Eto’o.
When he filed his candidacy on November 17, Samuel Eto’o, who also played for Chelsea and Real Madrid before hanging up his boots in 2019, said he would be the next president of Fecafoot “despite the cheating”. The two-time Champions League winner with Barcelona explained that the outgoing team had offered him the post of vice-president, a position he had refused.
The former Cameroonian legend Roger Milla had given his support, as well as, in a short message posted on social networks, the superstar Lionel Messi, his former teammate at Barcelona.
The outgoing president, Seidou Mbombo Njoya, acknowledged his defeat and congratulated Samuel Eto’o on Twitter, wishing him “every success”.
The new president of Fecafoot already has a major appointment on his agenda: in less than a month, Cameroon will host the final phase of the African Cup of Nations from January 9 to February 7, 2022.
