Yaounde – Cameroonian football's internecine infighting exploded into the open on Tuesday following the appointment of Marc Brys as head coach of the national football squad.
The 61-year-old Belgian was unveiled on Monday by Cameroon's sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi as a replacement for Rigobert Song who took the team – nicknamed the Indomitable Lions – to the last-16 at the Africa Cup of Nations in February in Cote d'Ivoire.
However, the president of the country's football federation, Fecafoot, and other top executives were absent from the ceremony in Yaoundé.
Fecafoot chief Samuel Eto'o claims Brys was appointed without consulting the governing body.
"The national federation cannot recognise these appointments made outside any legal and regulatory framework," Eto'o said last Wednesday.
Fecafoot added that it was neither closely, nor remotely involved in the selection process for the new coach and his dozen-strong team which includes the former Cameroon striker François Omam-Biyik
Fifa, the world game's governing body, bans all forms of government involvement in football. A Fifa spokesperson said on Tuesday: "We are trying to shed light on this regrettable situation."
Complex
In Cameroon, the government wields power behind the scenes as it pays the salaries of national team coaches.
On Friday, Mouelle Kombi wrote to Fecafoot to defend the coaching appointments.
In a letter seen by the news agency Reuters, Kombi said the ministry's move did not affect the autonomy of Fecafoot. He also rejected accusations that he had flouted any international rules.
But Eto'o and his colleagues could further muddy the waters. Following an emergency meeting last weekend, Fecafoot said it might anoint its own coach within the coming days.
Such a scenario would create unprecedented chaos as the national squad attempts to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and a tilt at a sixth continental crown as well as the 2026 World Cup.
On 3 June and 10 June, Cameroon face Cape Verde and Angola respectively in their quest to reach the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
After two matches, Cameroon lead African qualifying Group D on goal difference with Cape Verde and Libya also boasting four points.
Mouelle Kombi said Brys was chosen from a short list of 30 candidates due to his experience of coaching teams in Belgium, The Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.
“After the recent poor run of our national team, it is time for a new dawn,” said Mouelle Kombi.
"The national team is the cherished patrimony of Cameroon,” he added. "It plays a critical role in fostering national unity and fostering Cameroon’s image abroad."
Cameroon's footballers caught the eye in 1990 when they became the first African side to reach the quarter-finals at a World Cup. The feat was eclipsed in Qatar in 2022 as the Moroccans progressed to the semi-finals.
Despite the machinations in the background, Brys, who is the third Belgian after Henry Depireux and Hugo Broos to take charge of the national team, vowed to build a winning outfit.
"Every day, we will continue looking for players some of whom might not have been selected in the past," he said.
"I will keep an eye on local games because there is always some lost talent and it is for us to detect them and to see what they can achieve in a more solid group.
“The key to that golden era of Cameroonian football was their unity and genuineness," said Brys. "Those are the qualities we need to rediscover."
