October 1 – Cameroon’s greatest footballing icon, Samuel Eto’o, president of his country’s FA since 2021, has been banned by FIFA from attending any national team games for six months.
Eto’o faced two charges stemming from an incident at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia on September 11.
FIFA did not specify exactly what happened at the round of 16 game that Brazil won 3-1 against his country after extra time.
But it said Eto’o was adjudged to have broken disciplinary rules relating to “offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play” as well as misconduct of officials.
“The ban imposed on Mr. Eto’o prevents him from attending men’s and women’s matches involving (Cameroon) teams of all categories and age groups,” FIFA said in a statement.
That period through March includes men’s qualifiers for both the 2026 World Cup and 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The former Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid forward retired in 2019 after a spell playing in Qatar but has been embroiled in controversy ever since he switched to leading his country’s federation. He is now barred from attending any men’s or women’s national fixtures across all age groups.
The ban comes just under three months after Eto’o was cleared of match-fixing but fined $200,000 by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for his role as brand ambassador for controversial bookmaker 1XBET.
CAF said at the time that Eto’o was fined for “seriously violating the principles of ethics, integrity and sportsmanship”. Eto’o has since appealed that decision and denied all wrongdoing.
Back in 2022, the four-time African footballer of the year was hit with a 22-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to a €3.9 million tax fraud relating to his image rights while playing for Barcelona.
In a stellar playing career Eto’o made 118 appearances for Cameroon bagging 56 goals, playing in four World Cups and winning the Africa Cup of Nations twice. He also secured back-to-back Champions League titles with Barcelona and Inter Milan.
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