Cameroon football reconstruction in progress

Football glory in Cameroon has since gone over the windows following repeated defeats suffered by the Indomitable Lions in major competitions like the FIFA World Cup and international club matches.

The drop has been so dramatic that even the participation of the national team at the African Cup of Nations remains a matter of conjecture. The last participation of the football lions in Brazil during the 2014 FIFA World Cup sounded like a dead nail that made reconstruction virtually inevitable within football circles.

Conscious of the sporting, diplomatic and other advantages that football has endowed the country in the past, President Paul Biya on 25 June 2014 had to order an investigation under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang not only to bring out what went wrong but to equally suggest the way forward.

The presidential decision certainly meant that football remain such an asset in the country, which could no longer be abandoned. With the one month given for investigation now over, the logical consequence has been the effective application of the results of the enquiry as confirmed by the current consultation that the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Adoum Garoua began yesterday 25 August 2014.

With the ambition to render football truly profession in the country, the minister has sort to bring around the same table those who can make proposals and take responsibility for the effective modernisation of football in Cameroon.

Several public declarations by the Indomitable Lions coach, Volker Finke that his report on the debacle of the team in Brazil had been forwarded to government for examination and his confirmation at the head of the team, is an indication that he must have made concrete proposals on how best to rebuild a team that meets the football challenges so far observed.

The upcoming matches against the Democratic Republic of Congo and Côte d’Ivoire and ahead of the 2015 African Cup of Nations should offer and opportunity for the coach to try and verify his new strategy, so as to see what possible corrections to implement for the improvement of the game in Cameroon.

Yesterday he appointed a new team captain Stephane Mbia for the Lions assisted by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Vincent Aboubakar as a sign of his determination to move on.

In addition, the calibre of officials convened by Sports minister yesterday for the three-day meeting, also point to a possible way forward. What appears certain is that the daunting task for a viable football environment in Cameroon might take time.

Three years of experiment with professional football have rather met with hurdles linked to finance, training and managerial issues to the extent that sponsors who ought to constitute a vital chain in the growth of football have instead been withdrawing.

Football training schools meant to serve as nursing ground for young talents that could ensure badly needed relay have been more of private initiatives geared toward personal and not public good let alone the welfare of the players.

Understandably, the presence of business operators, football managers, sports reporters, former football stars and other key persons involved in football management in the country could finally find the right prescription for the revival of a game which has in the past made Cameroonians to vibrate in unison.

Any blueprint for the reconstruction of football in Cameroon will certainly call for an inclusive solution that takes into consideration not only the numerous problems that exist, but also the firm will by those involved to shelf personal interest and work for the common good. This could be easier said than done since over the years similar consultations have taken place to no avail.

However, the direct involvement of the Head of State is a pointer that the profound reflections which the Minister of Sports and Physical Education opened in Yaounde yesterday must ensure that the much-needed reconstruction of football in the country should produce palpable fruits.