The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has suspended the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, Samuel Eto’o.
The root cause of Eto’o’s sanctions is the behavior he displayed when the Cameroon National Team played against Morocco in the Quarter-Finals of the Africa Cup of Nations currently taking place in Morocco.
Samuel, known for being outspoken, showed great anger during the match and complained in front of officials, including FIFA President Gianni Infantino and CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe.
Eto’o was handed a four-match ban from accessing the stadium and fined $20,000.
In September 2024, he accompanied the Cameroon Women’s National Team to the World Cup in Bogotá, Colombia, but he could not tolerate the decisions made during the match in which they were eliminated.
During the Round of 16 match against Brazil, he displayed inappropriate behavior towards the referees and the players who had just defeated his team 3-1 in extra time.
This prompted the Disciplinary Committee of the World Football Association (FIFA) to sit and deliberate on the offenses, which violated Articles 13 and 14 of the football disciplinary code.
The decisions taken against the 45-year-old included a six-month ban from attending any matches involving Cameroon, whether youth, senior, or women’s teams.
At that time, FIFA also stated that before releasing the decision to the public, they had first informed him of the decision.
This is not the first time he has been sanctioned; in July of that year, the CAF Disciplinary Board met to review his conduct on various occasions, where he was accused of helping teams secure victories in matches within Cameroon.
The board found no concrete evidence that he committed these acts, but found issues regarding the signing of a league sponsor and him acting as a ‘brand ambassador’ for that company in a manner not in accordance with the rules.
As a result, he was sanctioned at the time for violating CAF regulations and fined $200,000.
Had he been found guilty of match-fixing and selling league games, he would have been banned from football for life.
When he was suspended at that time, it occurred while he was preparing for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which were set to pit Les Lions Indomptables against Kenya.
Before Eto’o became a football administrator, he was a star player for the Cameroon National Team, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and others.
Samuel Eto’o sanctioned again by CAFUMUSEKE.RW