By Kwame Bediako
Cameroon football President Samuel Eto’o is facing fresh allegations over a €567,570 payment from Russia for a 2023 international friendly, after documents seen by The Times indicate the money was sent to a personal bank account he holds in Qatar rather than an official FECAFOOT account.
What the documents show
According to contracts and invoices reviewed by the newspaper, the Russian Football Union was told to split the fee into two transfers, €455,056 and €112,514 both credited to Eto’o’s account at Qatar National Bank in Doha. A letter dated 2 October 2023, reportedly signed by then FECAFOOT national-team coordinator Benoît Angbwa, specifically requested that 80% of the participation fee (€455,056) be paid into that private account.
Former officials: “We can’t trace the money”
Former FECAFOOT executives say they have been unable to establish what happened to the funds after they landed in Eto’o’s account. Guibai Gatama, a former member of the federation’s executive committee, told The Times there is “no accounting or banking evidence” that the money was later moved to an official federation account or recorded in FECAFOOT’s financial statements. They say they lodged a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee more than a year ago but have not received a substantive update.
Why a personal account? Sanctions or red flag?
One explanation circulating in Cameroon is that international sanctions on Russia complicated cross-border payments, and that using a Qatar-based account helped bypass banking hurdles. Critics counter that this does not justify using a personal account and question whether FECAFOOT’s own rules—which reportedly require federation funds to be held in the organisation’s name—were breached.
Status of the allegations
The reports do not amount to a finding of theft or embezzlement. Neither Eto’o nor FECAFOOT had responded to The Times at the time of publication, and some Cameroonian outlets have reported that the funds were eventually transferred to FECAFOOT and properly accounted for. Even so, the episode adds to mounting pressure on Eto’o, who has previously been sanctioned by CAF and FIFA and has been mentioned in legal filings connected to FIFA’s scrapped Forward Enterprise investment plan.
