Two coaches, two African Cup squads! What chaos has the Cameroon Football Federation descended into?

Written by Han Bing Eto'o, who took office as president of the Cameroon Football Federation four years ago, has been involved in continuous scandals during his term. Now, with the African Cup imminent, Eto'o has created another ridiculous "international joke."

On December 1st, the Cameroon Football Federation under Eto'o held an urgent committee meeting, sacked Belgian head coach Blaise, appointed his local assistant Pagu as the new national team coach, and released a 28-player African Cup squad for Cameroon. However, Blaise refused to step down and on December 10th, he also announced a separate Cameroon squad for the African Cup, directly opposing Eto'o!

It is extremely rare, even in African football where scandals are common, for a federation to have two different national team squads for a major tournament. Eto'o and Blaise publicly accused each other of numerous violations, turning internal federation conflicts into a globally broadcast "scandal soap opera." Eto'o's Cameroon Football Federation listed 11 accusations against Blaise, including refusing to attend some work meetings, releasing a national team roster and holding a press conference without federation authorization, disregarding marketing rules that affected sponsorship deals, refusing to share training plans with the federation, not submitting match reports, collaborating with unauthorized personnel, inciting players to defy federation orders, and avoiding media duties. The federation blamed Blaise’s serious violations for Cameroon missing the 2026 World Cup.

Aboubakar

Blaise immediately countered with accusations against Eto'o. He told Belgium's Flemish TV network (VTM Nieuws) that since being appointed Cameroon’s national coach by the sports ministry in March 2024, Eto'o has been trying to remove him. Blaise revealed that Eto'o excluded captain and striker Aboubakar simply to prevent him from breaking Eto'o’s record as Cameroon's all-time top scorer. Now 33, Aboubakar has been playing in Azerbaijan’s league this summer and trails Eto'o by 12 national team goals, but Eto'o still wants to "ensure" his scoring record remains unbeaten.

Also omitted from Eto'o’s African Cup squad were Manchester United goalkeeper Onana, defender Ngadeu, midfielder Anguissa, and 36-year-old veteran forward Choupo-Moting. Yet, all these players appeared in Blaise’s squad. The Belgian coach explained: "How can we achieve good results in the African Cup without world-class goalkeeper Onana and captain Aboubakar? These players were excluded simply because they opposed Eto'o." He also criticized Eto'o for selecting "unprepared players" for such a major tournament: "This wouldn’t happen anywhere else in the world." Eto'o’s squad included six players with zero national team appearances and 17 players with fewer than 10 caps. Only defender Tolo, forwards Bassogo, and Mbemo had over 20 national team appearances.

The public confrontation between Eto'o and Blaise reflects a power struggle between Eto'o and Cameroon’s Sports Minister Koumbi. In March 2024, despite Eto'o’s opposition, Koumbi insisted on appointing Blaise as national coach. Eto'o claimed that according to the Cameroon Football Federation and FIFA statutes, he has the right to recommend candidates for national coach. He also cited a 2015 agreement between the federation and the sports ministry stating that the national coach’s appointment should be mutually agreed upon, not decided unilaterally. The ongoing conflict lasting over a year has severely disrupted the normal functioning of Cameroon’s national team.

On November 29th, Eto'o was re-elected as president of the Cameroon Football Federation. However, the sports ministry had requested on November 14th to postpone the election, and Minister Koumbi even contacted his colleague at the Ministry of Interior, Nji, to try to ban the election on grounds of "threatening public order." Nevertheless, FIFA and CAF sent observers to the event, and Eto'o won re-election with 85 out of 87 votes. The election results were recognized by both federations.

FIFA has officially registered Eto'o’s appointed new coach Pagu, while the Cameroon sports ministry reiterated its support for Blaise. A ministry official confirmed to France’s TV5 Monde that Blaise remains the Cameroon coach. Blaise emphasized that as long as the presidential office does not issue a dismissal letter, he remains the coach: "This has been the case in Cameroon for at least 30 years and is beyond dispute."

With the African Cup set to begin on December 21st, CAF needs to confirm each participating team’s final squad. For Cameroon, the version sanctioned by Eto'o’s federation is expected to be accepted without question. However, the sports ministry and Blaise clearly will not back down. Eto'o claims the team’s goal is to reach the African Cup semifinals, but given the current chaos in Cameroonian football, the outlook appears bleak.