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Arie Haan at Large ! (14.12.2006)
The Dutchman is still to take up permanent residence in Cameroon.
Unlike in the past when coaches used to complain of shabby treatment from Cameroonian authorities, this time, it is the reverse. Cameroonians are on the complaining side. Arie Haan is at large. Since October 7 when Cameroon’s national football team took on their Equatorial Guinean counterpart in Yaounde in their second outing of the on-going 2008 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, nothing has been heard of the Dutchman.
At the level of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) and the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education (MINSEP), there is unanimity that Arie Haan, who was paid six months advanced salary, has breached the terms of his contract signed on August 25th 2006. Without going into the details of the contract which remains a secret between the three signatories (FECAFOOT, MINSEP and Arie Haan), Cameroonians were duly informed that Arie Haan had to take permanent resident in Cameroon. This, to enable him detect young talents who can take over the relay baton for the aging players of the National football team.
On arrival at the Nismalen airport, the Dutchman made even lofty declarations to this effect. "I am in Cameroon to help the Lions regain their lost glory. We have to try to bring the talents of young players to the limelight, this is very important because the new team has to be made up also of young players. Everything starts from here", Arie Haan said. But where is he to detect these talents? Events such as the round robin tournament, the finals of the Cup of Cameroon and the Division I matches for the 2006 season have all ended without Arie Haan showing up at any of these sports events.
Whereas, things had been well mapped out to make sure Arie Haan works well in Cameroon. Appointed on August 18, 2006 to replace Artur Jorge who quit in February, Arie Haan effectively took office on
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August 24, 2006. He got down to work immediately as he led the Lions to the victorious expedition of Kigali. In his second outing in Yaounde, Arie Haan also recorded a victory. The two victories in two matches (although with teams who are considered underdogs in the football world) enabled Cameroonians to have confidence in a coach whose background was questionable.
In effect, after the announcement that Cameroon had recruited Arie Haan as coach, most Cameroonians did not believe in the Dutchman. For one thing, very few people knew him. FECAFOOT officials had to go the extra mile to justify the reason for the choice. On the eve of the Dutchman’s arrival in Cameroon, the 1st Vice President of FECAFOOT, Jean Rene Atangana Mballa, in an exclusive interview, said Arie Haan and his assistant were recruited following a proposal from FECAFOOT. He went on that FECAFOOT received 40 applicants and short listed four. "It was on the basis of certain criteria that Arie Haan was finally selected. The criteria included: experience of the coach, mastery of one or both of the official languages in Cameroon and above all residence in Cameroon. The coach also had to present a project to develop Cameroon’s football", Atangana Mballa said. It was therefore on these basis that Arie Haan was selected. The VP even said this time, FECAFOOT had to contribute to the payment of the coach.
Arie Haan was enthusiastic. And today, he maintains that FECAFOOT is dishonest. "They know where I am and also know the problems I am facing", he said in a mail to Cameroon Tribune yesterday. Now is time for the Cameroon Football Federation to stop playing the cat and mouse game and give an official explanation to Cameroonians on the Arie Haan Affair. For, it is shocking that the same people who proposed Arie Haan and his eternal assistant Theo de Jong for recruitment, out of supposedly 40 candidates, should be chewing their lips today.
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