Cameroon have found themselves at war with their own president Samuel Eto’o just days before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations
Eto’o, who on Thursday marked his fourth year as president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, is locked in a bitter feud with national team manager Marc Brys, who is reportedly refusing the sack.
Belgian boss Brys has not yet been officially fired and remains under contract with the Ministry of Sport until September 2026, despite being told by Eto’o that his time in charge of Cameroon is over.
The feud has thrown Cameroon into chaos and confusion just days before the tournament begins, with the African giants naming two separate AFCON squads.
The Cameroonian FA, led by Eto’o, released their 28-man squad after an emergency committee meeting on December 1, naming David Pagou — not Brys — as the national team coach for the tournament.
Pagou, who is now officially listed on FIFA’s website and even held a press conference to explain the squad and Cameroon’s ambitions for AFCON last week, was also joined by a brand new coaching team, appointed by Eto’o.
The squad also featured several surprise omissions, with former Manchester United goalkeeper André Onana, ex-Bayern Munich forward Eric Choupo-Moting and veteran goal-scorer Vincent Aboubakar all left out.
According to sources at The Sun, it is wildly claimed that Eto’o deliberately called for Aboubakar to be dropped from the team in order to prevent his all-time goal scoring record from being broken.
Aboubakar, 33, is currently 12 goals away from becoming the country’s outright top scorer and could feasibly surpass Eto’o at AFCON over the next few weeks.
The saga took a bizarre new twist on Wednesday when Brys, refusing to accept his dismissal, issued a second Cameroon squad that reinstated the previously omitted trio.
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LOBATAN