Fecafoot Defies MINSEP

A new conflict has erupted between the Cameroon football federation and the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education. Despite an injunction from Minister Adoum Garoua calling on Fecafoot to suspend elections within the federation to enable a broad based consultation, Fecafoot meeting in its executive and general assembly meetings yesterday, March 26, 2013

at the Mont Febe Hotel in Yaounde, adopted a resolution to go ahead with the elections in defiance of the ministerial order. Delegates said preparations were far advanced for them to stop at the nick of time. As such, elections in the Centre Regional League of Fecafoot will take place today in Mfou, as well as in the South West Regional League. The other regional leagues will follow suit according to a pre-established calendar and the elections at the national level will be held on May 25th.

Among the other resolutions at the end of the executive and general assembly meetings was the adoption of the budget of the association which stands at over FCFA 2.5 billion. The age of maturity for footballers was also fixed at 18 years and no longer 21 years as was the case before. The format of the regional championships was also modified. Henceforth, the regional leagues will comprise three pools of at least six teams and at most 12 teams, an increase on one pool as opposed to the past. A request from Fovu of Baham to have their home field ground moved from Mbouda to Bandjoun was granted, as well as the request of some little known regional clubs to change their names.

The executive committee and general assembly also approved the minutes of the last executive committee meeting of October 30th and the report of the activities of the president of the Federation since the last executive meeting. Another remarkable happening at the Fecafoot executive committee meeting yesterday, was the return of David Mayebi who was expelled from the federation last year. Mayebi appealed the decision at the National Olympic and Sports Committee as well as the International tribunal on sports arbitration which both reinstated him. Commenting on the nature of his welcome back to the association, Mayebi said it was convivial as friends long missed him.