Even before the leak, rumours had been circulating for a while. Victoria United’s return to the top level of Cameroonian football for the first time in almost 20 years had seemed like a fairytale for the club from the seaside city of Limbe that had been playing in the South West Regional League until last year.
But more than a few eyebrows were raised in December when their president, Valentine Nkwain – a local businessman known as “Bobdidy” – ran on to the pitch in the 86th minute of Victoria’s game against Tonnerre Kalara Club and picked up the ball complaining about “bad officiating”. Despite attempts to get him to return it, Nkwain – later suspended by the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) – refused and the referee was forced to abandon the game. “This is absolutely unbelievable in the 21st century for Cameroonian football,” one fan told Sports New Africa.
