FIFA against changing Eto'o's term of office
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Loading... - Kusi Gyimah
- 06 Jun 2023
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The global governing body of football does not support the proposal to extend the current term of office for Samuel Eto'o, the president of the Cameroon Football Federation, from 4 to 7 years.
In a surprising turn of events less than a year after Samuel Eto'o's election, the Cameroon Football Federation (Fécafoot) has made changes to the president's term of office. The term has now been prolonged from 4 to 7 years, with the possibility of renewal only once. However, it will take a considerable amount of time for this modification, which was adopted at the General Assembly on August 27, 2022, to come into effect.
According to reliable sources, FIFA has not granted approval for Fécafoot's revised statutes. "Several months ago, FIFA's secretary general, Fatma Samoura, sent a letter to the president of Fécafoot," an informed source reports. "In her letter, she urged the Cameroonian leader to convene a new General Assembly before the end of May 2023. The purpose was to nullify the provision regarding the extension of the president's term and revert it back to 4 years." In compliance with FIFA's request, the Fécafoot General Assembly took place in Yaounde on May 27, 2023. The significant development is that there will be no extension of Eto'o's mandate.
Tailored Texts
Article 37 of Fécafoot's new statutes, which concerns the modification of the president's term of office, is not the only "innovation" of the Eto'o era. Several provisions have been customized to suit the requirements of the governing body. Article 36, pertaining to the general eligibility conditions, states in paragraph 1.b that any candidate for an elected position must not have "received a definitive custodial sentence along with a detention order." In other words, an individual who has been convicted by the courts can run for office as long as they have not been imprisoned.
According to Cameroonian analysts contacted by Sport News Africa, the intention behind this new provision is to enable Samuel Eto'o to remain in office until the completion of his term and then run for re-election, even though he was found guilty of tax fraud and sentenced to 22 months in prison by the Spanish courts in June 2022. "Paragraph 1.d of Article 36 in the previous statutes disqualified him and removed him from the position of Fécafoot's president. It stated that any citizen who had received a definitive custodial sentence, including a suspended sentence or probation exceeding six months, could not be a candidate," explains a journalist.
