By Boris Esono Nwenfor
BUEA, Cameroon – The president of the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT, Samuel Eto’o has confirmed that Belgian tactician Marc Brys will remain in his role as the coach of the Indomitable Lions after the FA had earlier suspended him.
Samuel Eto’o made the confirmation during a news conference on Thursday, May 30 with the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers on the horizon in early June. The hatchet between the country’s FA and the Ministry of Sports also seems to have been buried after the intervention of the Presidency of the republic.
According to a communiqué from FECAFOOT Secretary-General, Brys is expected to work with Martin Mpile as assistant number one while David Pagou is the assistant coach number 2, while former Cameroon international goalkeeper Idris Carlos Kameni is the goalkeeper trainer.
Former FC Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o who assumed the presidency of FECAFOOT in late 2021 said: “I apologise because during our first unfortunate meeting, there was a lot of emotion. The Cameroonian people are more important than us, and it is for them that we must work.”
Marc Brys had been appointed by the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education in April but FECAFOOT contested this and expressed its “great astonishment” at the move and said the decision had been “taken unilaterally”. What follows has been a two-month back and forth between the FA and the Sports Ministry as to who had the power to name the coach and the technical staff of the national team.
At the centre of this dispute are conflicting interpretations of legal frameworks, government involvement, and the role of football federations in coaching appointments. FECAFOOT in their various communiqués have been citing the 2014 presidential decree which to them gives the organization the power to appoint a new coach. MINSEP, on the other hand, will cite the 2015 Convention signed between FECAFOOT and the body.
Martin Ndtoungou Mpile who was made interim coach of the National Team was on May 30 expected to name a squad for World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde and Angola on 8 and 11 June respectively – but that was shelved and it now appears that coach Marc Brys will issue the call-ups instead, as he did for the pre-selection.
“Your mission is not an easy one despite your qualities and experience, but you should know that you will have our support,” President Samuel Eto’o added. Brys now looks set to take charge of his first international games after the latest development in the power struggle between FECAFOOT and the Ministry of Sports.
The Indomitable Lions will be hoping to go into the games against Cape Verde and Angola fresh knowing the troubles between MINSEP and FECAFOOT are behind them.
Cameroon is currently top of qualifying Group D with four points from two games and takes on the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde who equally have four points after two games, one victory and a draw. The group winners are assured of a place at the FIFA 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
