CAS endorses cancellation of FECAFOOT election

The Swiss-based court of arbitration for sports, CAS, has accepted to consider the decision of the Conciliation and Arbitration Chamber of the National Olympic and Sports Committee of Cameroon that declared the election of current FECAFOOT president Tombi A Roko null and void in November 2015.

An official with the football governing body told The Cameroon Journal Wednesday by telephone that CAS decision to assign a judge to hear the matter is a deadly blow for Tombi who, he said, has been “acting in illegality” following the Olympic committee’s ruling. He, however, clarified that the move by CAS was not final as the matter is still being heard at the Lausanne-based court.

Tombi was elected to head FECAFOOT in a highly contested election organised by the Normalisation Committee headed by former minister, Joseph Owona. Abdouraman Hamadou, then president of Etoile Filante football club of Garoua, the late Antoine Depadoux Essomba Eyenga, and others cried foul over the September 28, 2015 poll, citing a number of abnormalities.

When sports minister Bidoung Mkpatt came out to publicly throw his full support behind Tombi following the Olympic committee chamber’s decision, Abdourahman and co. then decided to head to the world’s highest sports arbitration court, CAS.

The decision to annul the FECAFOOT local and national elections was predicated on the argument that electoral rules, which were adopted at a general assembly of 5 August same year, were in violation of a national law that regulates sports activities in Cameroon, as well as an article in FECAFOOT’s own statutes.

To Abdouraman, John Begheni Ndeh, first vice president OF fecafoot during Iya Mohammed’s reign was the rightful man to the post. It became so hot that Prime Minister Yang summoned Abdouraman and Ndeh over the issue in November last year.

Abdouraman and co. also succeeded in having the accounts of the federation frozen laying claims to the ruling of the chamber of Conciliation and Arbitration Committee. The accounts in all the banks, except one, have remained blocked till today.

The latest decision from CAS made public Tuesday 19 July, means the embargo on the banks restricting Tombi from having access to FECAFOOT money, would stay in place.

Meanwhile, football pundits are gripped in curiosity as they wait to see how Tombi and other top sports authorities in the country will react to the latest development.