Cameroon football was plunged deeper into crisis on Tuesday when a meeting between football federation president Samuel Eto’o and the country’s new Belgian coach Marc Brys turned into an angry showdown.
It was the first time Eto’o was meeting Brys, who was appointed by the country’s sports ministry in early April without any input from the Cameroon Football Federation, setting up a standoff between the two.
Brys had been invited for a “working session” by Eto’o as Cameroon prepare for World Cup qualifiers next month, but several of his support staff, also appointed by the sports ministry, were refused entry to the FECAFOOT federation building in Yaounde.
Video circulating on several social media sites, filmed by reporters, show Eto’o welcoming Brys but their exchanges quickly turned into a melodrama.
First Eto’o angrily kicked out a ministry official who wanted to attend the meeting, and then he had a fiery exchange with Brys, who left immediately.
A statement is expected later from FECAFOOT, who had expressed a willingness to work with the Belgian despite initially slamming his appointment as a unilateral decision by sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombito.
Normally, the football federation would appoint and pay its coaches but in some African countries this is done by the government, especially when federations are cash-strapped.