Eto'o is at the center of a scandal again: he is accused of embezzling 560,000 euros allocated for a friendly match

Eto'o at the center of scandal again: he is accused of embezzling 560,000 euros allocated for a friendly match

It has become common for Samuel Eto'o, the former Cameroon national team player who currently serves as the head of the country's football federation (Fecafoot), to be at the center of scandals. He has been dragged into yet another controversy. This time, it concerns the Russia-Cameroon friendly match played in 2023.

According to The Times, for this very friendly match, the Russian Football Union transferred more than 560,000 euros to Eto'o's personal account at the Qatar National Bank. There is also a screenshot confirming this.

Eto'o under FIFA's protection

Former officials of the Cameroonian Football Federation say the whereabouts of this money is unknown. They claim that Eto'o forced them to resign from the organization. Furthermore, they have already sent an official complaint to the FIFA Ethics Committee regarding Eto'o's actions, but have yet to receive a response. Former representatives of the federation suspect that Eto'o is under the protection of FIFA President Gianni Infantino because he supports the FIFA president. He also receives assistance from FIFA through the Forward Enterprise project.

Gibaye Gatama, a former member of the executive committee of the Cameroonian Federation, said:

"When such serious and well-founded allegations do not lead to an investigation and FIFA continues to praise Eto'o, one can conclude that he is under protection."

A FIFA spokesperson stated that the judicial system is independent and the president has no influence over them.

The charter of the Cameroonian Football Federation clearly states that all funds must be kept in the organization's accounts, not in personal accounts. Gibaye Gatama added to this:

"To my knowledge, there is no evidence that the funds transferred to Samuel Eto'o's personal account in Qatar were subsequently sent to Fecafoot's official account or reflected in its accounting records. Neither Fecafoot nor Eto'o can deny the existence or authenticity of these transactions, because the documents speak for themselves."

Another friendly match scandal

This is not the first scandal related to money paid for friendly matches involving Cameroon. Last summer, Fecafoot members contacted the US Department of Justice and the FBI regarding the disappearance of $600,000 paid for a friendly match between Cameroon and Mexico, which took place in San Diego in June 2023.

At that time, the American company Soccer United Marketing was responsible for organizing the match and was supposed to pay this amount under the contract, but the money never actually reached the federation's account.

Eto'o's 5-year tenure: scandals and suspensions

Recently, Eto'o supported Infantino amid criticism over his attempts to sell World Cup rights. The Cameroonian player emphasized that Infantino is helping to develop African football and allowing Africans to dream big.

"President Gianni Infantino has changed football. He gave opportunities to countries that did not have the chance to participate in the most beautiful tournament — the World Cup. He helped smaller countries qualify for this competition. He helped our continent. He laid the foundation for our federations to develop much faster. We must accept, recognize what he has done, and support Infantino," Eto'o said.

Eto'o has been leading the Cameroonian Football Federation for almost five years and regularly gets involved in various scandals. In the first two years alone, many questions and complaints arose.

He was sentenced to a 22-month suspended prison term for tax fraud, received a long-term ban from the Women's World Cup due to insults, got into a fight with a blogger at the World Cup, and has been accused of match-fixing and non-payment of child support.

"Antics" at the Africa Cup of Nations

At the previous Africa Cup of Nations, Eto'o also pulled off several "antics." First, he dismissed the head coach of the national team. Then, he made an inappropriate gesture to the president of the Moroccan federation and was suspended for four matches.

Eto'o himself believes that all his problems stem from the fact that he is seen as a presidential candidate in Cameroon.

"When people see that I am even more popular now than when I was a player, they think, 'he definitely wants to become the head of state.' This creates problems for me; those who wish to become president see me as a rival. Even if our ideas benefit the federation, some people turn it into politics and create obstacles. However, not everyone wants to be the president of the country. It is not an easy job to handle," Eto'o says.