The president of the Cameroon Football Federation, (FECAFOOT), Samuel Eto’o Fils has been elected to the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football, (CAF).
The 44-year-old was elected by acclamation as the lone candidate from the Central African Football Federations’ Union (UNIFFAC) at the CAF extraordinary general assembly in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. It comes after Cameroon FA boss won some legal battles which would have prevented him from running for the election.
The event in Cairo also saw the re-election of CAF president Patrice Motsepe for another four-year mandate. Motsepe revealed that Eto’o had visited him in South Africa before the elections, and he hopes his election will help bring unity to Cameroonian football.
Attended by the president of the Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) Gianni Infantino, the assembly equally saw the election of members of the FIFA Council.
The former all-time top scorer of the Cameroon national men’s football team was greeted warmly by delegates around him when his name hit the walls of the hall. He joined five other elected members to the executive committee as he replaced his predecessor at the FA Seidou Mbombo Njoya, outgone fourth Vice President of CAF.
On March 7, 2025, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld an appeal by Eto’o against two CAF rulings that previously rendered him ineligible to take part in the polls. CAS, while instructing CAF to reinstate his candidacy, also ordered the African football governing body to pay 8000 Swiss francs to the FECAFOOT boss in damages.
Earlier this month CAS also declared itself incompetent to rule on an appeal filed by some Cameroonian clubs and individuals against the FA president for match-fixing and other worries. After dismissing the appeals, the Lausanne-based organization ordered the appellants to pay 7000 Swiss francs (slightly over FCFA four million) to the 44-year-old.
In an earlier ruling, CAS had annulled a $20,000 fine imposed on Eto’o by CAF for alleged misconduct in mid-February. CAF had found the four-time African Footballer of the Year guilty of using his status as FA president to reach a deal with a betting company.
Eto’o will also be returning to football activities following the expiration of a six-month ban imposed on him by FIFA in September 2024 for lack of sportsmanship. He has not attended a football match since then.
Pundits say his election will enable Samuel Eto’o to accomplish his mission of revamping football in Cameroon and Africa as a whole, as he now has the right to take part in decision making at CAF.
