THE FECAFOOT SCANDAL: Cosmetic Change

The Cameroon Football Association was founded in 1959. It got affiliated to CAF in 1963 and FIFA in 1964.

But since the creation of the FA, the plots and sub plots in the Tsinga mad house are so twisted that even movie director and producer, Steven Spielberg, cannot successfully produce a film from it. But what do we expect?

FECAFOOT is just the microcosm of the macrocosmic FIFA. On November 13, 2014, FIFA published its report into allegations of corruption during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The lawyer who was given the responsibility to investigate the allegation, American-born Michael J. Garcia, was scandalised when crucial issues of the report were left out and FIFA cleared Qatar and Russia and he made that known four hours after its publication.

“My job is to punish people who do bad things and break the law,” Garcia said. In 2012, Garcia was appointed together with FIFA’s Ethics Judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert, who drafted the report based on the findings of Garcia, but at the end of the day, Garcia is contesting the report published by Eckert, two years after they were appointed. That tells you whose finger is stained with Russian and Arab oil and how ethical FIFA is.

Today, tempers are flaring. British MPs are crying foul. According to Clive Efford, Labour's Shadow Minister for Sport, "FIFA has no choice but to publish Michael Garcia's report in full if it expects anyone to believe their claims that there has been no cover-up over allegations of corruption in the World Cup bidding process."

In July 2013, members of the so-called Normalisation Committee were appointed. They included Joseph Owona, law professor:;Emmanuel Ngassa Happi David N’hanack Tonyé, former SG, Ministry of Sports; Michel Kaham, former football player; Ephraïm Ngwafor, law professor; Ebenezer Mouloke, jurist; Pascal Owona Baylon, former Indomitable Lions captain and President of the FA; James Mouangue Kobila, law professor; Adolphe Minkoa She, jurist; Amadou Evelé, jurist; Prosper Abega, barrister practicing in Marseille and member of FIFA legal committee. Their mission was to revise the instruments and organise elections from the base to the summit.

Owona and his legal luminaries were instructed to throw cleansing powder on the legal instruments of FECAFOOT, read it and make it sound good. They had a fixed mandate, but Owona woke up one morning and begged that more time be granted to him and his people. The media broke loose. They all pictured Owona’s intention to head the delegation to Brazil and swallow the billions made available thereto. Thank God, the adventure was not only a fiasco with the player bonuses, but it was also short-lived due to the elimination of Cameroon.

Owona has been given all the time on earth to the point that another scandal was inserted in his log book of scandals, the boycott of the female national team. The girls refused to attend the ceremony organised to thank them for the patriotism, five ministers were slapped in the face, the team captain wrote a letter to Biya and Chantal, the food cooked for them got sour and the next day, Owona et al hatched FCFA 9 million for each girl.

Elections have been held to renew the basic organs of the FA and that will end with the election of the President, who, according to popular opinion, Tombi a Roko Sidiki already won before even announcing his candidacy. On the other hand, some other Cameroonians whom we thought were retired and tired are already lacing-up their shoes in view of what happened in the regions.

The deadline for candidacies to be submitted was Monday, 17 November 2014, but later shifted to November 26 to avert the situation where Tombi a Roko was going to win by forfeiture on grounds the files of the other candidates were not complete.

Sixty-nine-year-old former Indomitable Lions coach, Nyongha Jules was the latest to announce his candidacy on 13 November in the nation’s capital. According to Nyongha, he will build 58 stadiums in Cameroon and revolutionise soccer in Cameroon. We already know that plot, it is not new to our ears.

Joseph Antoine Bell also submitted his candidacy. It should be recalled that in 1996, Bell was thrashed by Vincent Onana during these same elections and today he feels he is riper and is ready to answer the people’s call. The slogan of his campaign is ‘la Team New Deal’, getting inspiration from the father of democracy in Cameroon. Sixty-year old Mouandé-born Bell would have to fasten his seat belt, the ride will not be as sweet as sweets. Other candidates also made their voices to be heard, they include: Atah Robert, Eboa Elame and Luc Assamba. Let us wait and see.

In the regions, the ‘pala-pala’ was fierce. Douala was the scene of a China-made movie. The elections were first of all carried forward because of security reasons, then later conducted on November 12. Law enforcement officials had been at the premises of the Hotel at 5.00am to ensure the security of the venue. It was a free for all fight.

The cameras of Canal 2 International served us to the brim. Frank Happi, Vice President of the Professional Football League, was toppled like a bag of beans. He spread on the floor and almost exposed his family jewels. His watch got lost in the process, he was shoeless and the law enforcement guys watched happily. Like Nebuchadnezzar, he walked on his knees.

At the end of the day, mafia prevailed and Pierre Batamack was elected in the absence of 17 voters, who stepped out for a break and the elections went on without them. Yes, this is Cameroon, land of promise, land of glory. In Bamenda, Begheni Ndeh was very tired that he could not walk to come for elections. Nonetheless, he blessed the only candidate, Christopher Kaba, the only enlightened Bamenda man that can handle the affairs of the Northwest as concerns football.

Legal mind, Agbor Balla, now knows what it looks like to be in the shoes of Ni Fru Ndi. He lost just by one vote to Mbella Moki.

“It was a sad day for football in the region. We’re filing an appeal because we think that the process was not fair,” Balla wept.

On November 29, delegates from the regions will go to the polls to elect the new President of the football governing body in Cameroon. On that day, all eyes will be on Tsinga as Joseph Owona and his bunch of incompetent fellows, will bid farewell to the house they wanted to extract all the juice from before going. With complaints of rigging left and right, the denouement to this football affair promises to be crunchy and crispy. Only time will tell. Let’s wait and see.