Indomitable Lions threaten strike over ‘meagre’ bonuses

Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions say they will begin a strike Friday if the country’s football officials disrespect them with meagre bonuses.

The players made known their intention at a meeting with officials on Wednesday in Kurfstein, Austria, at the start of preparations for their seventh World Cup appearance in Brazil next month, mboafootball.com which writes on Cameroon football reports.

A delegation of nine players, headed by team captain Samuel Eto’o and his deputies Nicolas Nkoulou and Enoh Eyong Tarkang, accused provisional Cameroon FA boss Joseph Owona of wanting to impose premiums without consulting them, the report claimed.

The Indomitable Lions are quoted to have said they would not train today and would, further, not take part in a warm-up game on June 1 against Germany in Monchengladbach if a solution is not found soon. This does not bode well for a nation that places bets on renewed unity within a hitherto strife-torn team to boost its chances at world football’s biggest stage.

Cameroon have qualified for the Fifa World Cup seven times, a record among African nations, and boast four Africa Cup of Nations titles. They lifted their last major trophy 13 years ago in Mali when they won their fourth African title.

In recent years Indomitable Lions have failed to live up to the expectations that country greats like Roger Milla, Thomas Nkono and François Omam Biyik set in the 1980s and 1990s.

FAILED TO QUALIFY

They failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 and 2013. Cameroon was the first country to be knocked out of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa; crashing out of the competition without a single point.

The team’s recent poor show has been blamed on lack of cohesion. A resounding 4-1 win over Tunisia in Yaoundé on November 17 last year gave Cameroon a fresh boost and a ticket for the Brazil tourney.

But a 5-1 thrashing by Portugal in March in their first warm-up for the tournament dampened hopes. François Omam Biyik, a star of the 1990 Cameroon siade, said the team will not go beyond the first round in Brazil. “They lack the kind of cohesion and patriotism that spurred us back then,” he said.

“They need a change of mentality and must give the country the kind of 100 per cent commitment they give to their clubs. And (Samuel) Eto’o may be a sophisticated striker, he is very far from being a good leader.”

INCITING TEAMMATES

In December 2011, four-time African footballer of the year Samuel Eto’o was banned for 15 games by the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) for his part in a players’ strike.

He was accused of inciting teammates not to play in a friendly that was eventually cancelled against Algeria a month before amid a row over bonus payments.

The skipper stirred up debate about the country’s football woes in February 2013 after he accused local federation officials of wanting to take his life and challenged them to a live debate on national television.

Eto’o blasted FECAFOOT officials for the failure of football in his country claiming they were trying to kill him because he denounced their corrupt activities.

But FECAFOOT is now being run by a commission led by Joseph Owona which FIFA assembled on July 22 last year to revise the statutes of the FA and organise elections which had to take place before March 31 this year.