FECAFOOT imbroglio:

 FIFA to suspend Cameroon?
Sport and Physical minister Bidoung Mkpatt’s decision to discard the verdict of the Conciliation and Arbitration Chamber of the National Olympic Committee cancelling Tombi a Roko’s election to the post of FECAFOOT president, is very likely to provoke FIFA’s wrath. If FIFA eventually suspends Cameroon from participating in all its activities, what will become of the country’s supposed hosting of the women’s and men’s AFCON in 2016 and 2019 respectively?
By Essan Ekoninyam in Yaounde

Tombi a Roko

Before the incarceration in June 2013 of Iya Mohamed, the former president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), it was believed that he was at the origin of most if not all the woes plaguing Cameroon football. Some even hold that his imprisonment was unjustified but pre-arranged in order to give Cameroon football a new lease of life.
    However, Iya’s departure has proved not to be a panacea to the problems afflicting football in the country. The controversial voting into office of his successor, Tombi à Roko Sidiki, has brought to the fore other problems which seem even more intractable than those of the Iya days.  
    It came as a surprise to no one that Tombi was elected to that position. However, to the Conciliation and Arbitration Chamber (CAC) of the National Olympic and Sports Committee, his election was illegal because, according to this body, the statutes of the FECAFOOT General Assembly of 23 August 2015 were null and void. For this reason, the CAC invalidated the statutes and consequently Tombi’s election.
    In a surprising turn of events, the new minister of Sport and Physical Education, Bidoung Mkpatt, discarded with a mere press communiqué the verdict of the CAC which he considered incompetent to make decisions on electoral matters at FECAFOOT. By the minister’s decision therefore, Tombi remains at the helm of FECAFOOT.

    Those who are on the minister’s side say he did what he did to avoid the perennial problems of the house and prepare in serenity Cameroon’s hosting of the women’s Nations Cup this year and the men’s Nations Cup in 2019. Nevertheless, these events might even not take place because Abdouraman Hamadou and Bell Joseph Antoine are bent on seeing that a higher body, the Swiss-based Arbitration Tribunal for Sports TAS, overrules Bidoung Mkpatt’s decision.
    It should be recalled that it was the former duo, now described in some circles as the ‘rebels’ of Cameroon football, who had sought the intervention CAC. The TAS is very likely to come up with a decision suspending Cameroon at any time, given that Minister Bidoung had no right, legally speaking, to discard the CAC ruling.
    As it now stands, Abdouraman and Bell are said to have succeeded to block the account of FECAFOOT, giving Tombi and his team no access to it. The matter is currently in the Yaounde court of first instance. However, other sources say the account is actually not blocked but that the only person who has access to it is Iya Mohamed. But since his liberty is restricted, his former first vice president, John Begheni Ndeh, is now the only person who can access the account.
    If it is illegal for the Tombi team to occupy the offices of FECAFOOT, then it goes without saying that J. B. Ndeh should be officially manning the office. With the impasse persisting, all eyes are now turned towards FIFA to hit its hand on the table and call Cameroon to order. And if the world football governing body does, suspending Cameroon from all FIFA-organized competitions, what would become of the country’s supposed hosting of the two Nations Cup tournaments?