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Lions : Time For Reckoning (04.01.2005)
2004 was a difficult year for players and those who love football in Cameroon.
Cameroonian football is in a coma. The glories of yesteryears have given way to poor results and failure. It all began in January, during the 24th African Cup of Nations finals in Tunisia. A virus of mediocrity gripped the Indomitable Lions. They could not go beyond the second round. The team was eliminated by its all time rival, the Super Eagles of Nigeria. It was a great blow to Cameroonian football as, hitherto, the Lions had always dominated the Super Eagles. Cameroon thus saw its dream of winning the trophy for the third consecutive time dashed. The premature elimination of the Indomitable Lions from the 24th African Cup of Nations was blamed on a number of factors: lack of aggressiveness on the part of players, indiscipline in the ranks of the team and poor coaching above all else.
Added to this was another problem: that of an unauthorised outfit. The controversial one-piece outfit was unveiled during the opening round of the African Nations Cup. The new strip, considered by many as revolutionary, combined both the jersey and the shorts. Although FIFA does not run the tournament, it objected to the "UniQT" bodysuits by Puma and demanded Cameroon cease wearing them after the first round, saying they violated rules requiring separate jerseys and shorts. The Indomitable Lions despised this warning and trotted onto the field for their quarterfinal match against Nigeria . . . wearing the red, green and yellow jerseys. This vexed FIFA and in what could be considered a severe sanction in sports history, the soccer international governing body a find Cameroon 154,000 dollars (about 80 million) and deducted six points from their total at the final stage of African qualifying for the 2006 World Cup and African Cup of Nations.
Sanctions
Although the six-point sanction was lifted, Cameroon’s performance in the on-going joint eliminatory has been mediocre. With just eight points after five matches, the Lions occupy an uncomfortable third position in group three of the on-going qualifies. Their chances of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup are slim as they are far behind Côte d’Ivoire that tops the group with 12 points. This poor performance has led to the sacking of the coach, Winfred Schafer. This was after a friendly encounter between the Indomitable Lions and the German National Mannschaft in Leipzig, Germany on November 17. Cameroon was humiliated 0-3 by Germany. But the question on the minds of many Cameroonians today is: who will replace Schäfer?
The confusion in football is just a reflection of the imbroglio at the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT. In April government made a giant stride to bring order into the
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managementof Cameroonian football. Following the prescriptions of the Head of State, two commissions were created: one to probe into the management of FECAFOOT and the other to revise the texts. The final documents were forwarded to FIFA for examination. FIFA, on November 05, 2004, in Zurich, examined the file in the presence of the major actors Nothing good, however, came out of the meeting as the conflicting parties were asked to return home and solve their differences.
Football clubs are not also spared the present malaise rocking Cameroonian football. Four Cameroonian football clubs were involved in continental competitions at the start of the season. The Confederation Cup competition started off in April with Sable of Batie and PWD of Bamenda. The two clubs succeeded meandering through to the 8th finals. PWD Bamenda however, crashed out of the competition at this stage after one draw and a defeat. The "Sand Sand boys" were joined in the pursuit of the Confederation Cup by Cotonsport and Canon ejected from the Champions League. On November 14, Ghanaian side, Hearts of Oak, put an end to the dream of Cotonsports playing the finals.
Resources
Experts have attributed this poor performance of Cameroonian teams at continental competitions to several factors. The non-competitive nature of the new championship format put in place by FECAFOOT, the lack of financial resources and poor management, etc. Most clubs in Cameroon are not financially viable. This has a direct bearing on the quality of players who they recruit and by implication, their performance. PWD Bamenda, for example, started its continental jamboree with only 14 players. Club officials say there was no money to hire more players. Added to this is the fact that some of the star players of the Bamenda-based team abandoned the club prior to the competition for greener pastures. Financial crisis is also responsible for the late arrival of most Cameroonian clubs for their away matches. Canon Yaounde, is a good example of a club that has been rocked by managerial crisis. The poor performances of the "almighty" Canon football club at continental competition this season, is therefore a simple reflection of the chaos in the club.
Apparently no aspect of the game has been spared of poor results in 2004 as the U-17 and cadet teams also failed to qualify for next year’s African Cup of Nations in their respective categories. The female team tried to make up for the poor results during the Female championship in South Africa last September. Unfortunately, their dream of winning their first continental crown was bashed by the Super Falcons who eliminated them at the final. The new Minister of Sports and Physical Education certainly has a lot to do to bring back this lost glory.
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