Why Barcelona Legend and Cameroon FA President Samuel Eto’o Is Under Police Investigation
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Cameroonian police have begun an investigation into former striker and current President of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), Samuel Eto’o, for his alleged involvement in a match-fixing scandal.
Samuel Eto’o, who has played for Chelsea, Everton, and Inter-Milan, among others, has been the president of the Cameroonian FA since December 2021.
According to reports, the 42-year-old FA boss was caught in a recording that has been made public, discussing possible match manipulations to promote second-division club, Victoria United. He is said to have been speaking to the president of the club, Valentine Nkwain.
Eto’o is claimed to have made statements such as, “Don’t worry, we’ll give you your three points, and we will suspend the referee…Opopo [Victoria’s nickname] must go up to the first division. This is our goal. This is our federation. Victoria United will go up.”
Victoria United was subsequently promoted in April.
The allegations, however, have been vehemently denied by both Eto’o and Nkwain.
Police have reportedly interviewed key witnesses in the case and about 40 officials associated with Facafoot will most likely be implicated.
The match-fixing scandal is one of many recent incidents that have brought Eto’o’s conduct into question.
A video surfaced online during the World Cup in Qatar where he was seen kneeing a man in the face. He was also handed a suspended prison sentence last year after admitting to tax fraud of about $4 million dollars while playing for Barcelona.