Cintia A. , Lebledparle.com
The meeting, held on December 18, was attended by club presidents and the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Prof. Narcisse Mouelle Kombi. However, it saw the absence of Samuel Eto’o, President of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), and members of the Fecafoot executive committee. The primary focus of the meeting was the state’s subsidy for organizing the 2024/2025 professional football championship, as well as addressing the tensions between Samuel Eto’o and the club presidents regarding the subsidy.
Despite their absence, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi provided the attendees with an update on the various requests made by Fecafoot this season and the financial responses received. One surprising point was the Minister’s revelation that the Federation had already received 150 million CFA francs to begin the Championship. Some stakeholders however, expressed being unaware of this and are now requesting a report from Fecafoot.
Below is an excerpt of the Minister’s statement that was to Bledparle Sport :
“In a letter dated November 20, 2024, the President of the Cameroon Football Federation once again requested the state’s subsidy for organizing the Elite One and Elite Two professional championships for the 2024-2025 season, addressed to the Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic. In response, the Minister of State, SG of the Presidency, upon receiving the letter instructed us under the President’s directive to conduct a joint review of the subsidy’s objectives and its main allocation points with all key stakeholders involved. A similar request for 350 million CFA francs was also submitted to the Prime Minister’s office, and to our knowledge a disbursement of 150 million CFA francs has already been made available to Fecafoot by the specialized services of the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education to begin the championships.
The goal of today’s meeting is to ensure better management and a more refined and effective allocation of the subsidy provided by the State for organizing the 2024-2025 football championship, as well as for the future of the championships. Given the numerous issues raised regarding the distribution of the state subsidy and the complaints from club presidents about the critical situation, this meeting also serves as an opportunity to lay the foundation for the future, with the aim of achieving optimal objectives and protecting the legitimate interests of key stakeholders in fulfilling public service missions in sports, particularly in football, as delegated by the Head of State to specific actors. This is why we have invited you in your respective roles, including the Cameroon Football Federation, whose president excused himself due to scheduling conflicts, but we have noticed no representative is present, as well as the presidents of football clubs in the Elite One and Elite Two professional championships, the players’ union, and other key individuals, so that together we can contribute our insights toward optimizing the use of state funds for the benefit of all football stakeholders.
In this regard, the review of the request suggests revisiting, to some extent, the historical basis of public funding for football in Cameroon through public funds, while also considering the contextual factors, conditions, and evaluating the ongoing support of the State for professional football”.
