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Rough Sports Season (04.01.2006)
Cameroon recorded some of its worst results on the international scene this year.
Many lovers of sports in Cameroon would like to forget 2005. It was a year during which Cameroon recorded some of its poorest results on the international scene. But for the National Wheelchair Basketball team that won a bronze medal in Johannesburg where it took part in the Afro-Asiatic Zone senior men’s world cup qualifier, the armed forces and police team (FAP) which won silver at the 24th edition of the men African Clubs Champion cup in Cotonou and the national female volleyball team which qualified for the World Cup last April in the Mauritius Island, it has been a series of fruitless trips abroad for our sports men and women.
The most recent debacle was the 5th Francophonie Games in Niamey last December where Cameroon returned home with no gold medal. The 48 sports persons who represented the country in five disciplines (football, athletics, boxing, judo and wrestling) could only bag five medals — one silver and four bronze. The lack of ample preparation, financial squabbling and management impediments were at the root of the poor performance of athletes.
The greatest blow of the year came from football; the darling sports of Cameroonians. The Indomitable Lions failed to qualify for their sixth World Cup finals, the fifth in a row. The team needed a victory against Egypt on October 08, to pick the lone World Cup ticket of Group 3. But the 1-1 tie could only enable them to finish second with 21 points; one point behind group leaders Côte d’Ivoire. This however did not stop Cameroon’s ace striker, Samuel Eto’o to be voted third best footballer in the world by the world football governing body, FIFA.
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Cameroon was nonetheless present at the World Cup in three disciplines: draughts, handball and Table tennis. The delegations however contented themselves with participation. The dream of the Indomitable Lions of Draughts to bring home the World Cup was shattered when they crashed out of the competition, that took place last September in Italy, at the quarter-finals. In handball, the Lionesses were humiliated in Russia as they bagged scores and scores of goals. They failed to win even one match in the group stage. The poor result was a reflection of the hazardous preparation which the team had. The same could be said for Victorine Fomum, whose performance at the Table Tennis World Cup in China left much to be desired. The young physical education and sports teacher, who doubles as national coach for Table Tennis, was the first African South of the Sahara called to defend the colours of Africa in the discipline on the global stage. From all indication, the level of the tournament was too high for her.
On the home front, there was a generalised absence of events in many sports disciplines. With over 41 sports federation duly registered, only a handful functioned normally; that is, with efficient administration, permanent and regular organisation of competitions throughout the season. There was also a setback in the respect of Olympic values such as fair play, tolerance, mutual understanding and solidarity. The football season, for example, was almost marred by several cases of violence on the pitch. Matches ended prematurely and several complaints tabled to the Cameroon Football Federation. The finalists for the Cup of Cameroon, for example, were finally designated after both semi-final matches failed to produce winners on the pitch.
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