Cameroon Football Association Deems Appointment of New Belgian Coach 'Unlawful'

The Cameroon Football Association raises concerns over the legality of appointing a new Belgian coach, citing potential issues with the hiring process.Cameroonian football federation president Samuel Eto'o has officially addressed the country's sports ministry, condemning the "unlawful" selection of Belgian Marc Brys as the new national team coach.

In a letter released to the public on Wednesday, Eto'o, Cameroon's top goal scorer of all time, emphasized that such appointments made outside established legal and regulatory frameworks cannot be acknowledged by the national Fecafoot, the Cameroonian football federation, expressed its deep regret for not being consulted "in any way, shape, or form" during the selection process for the new coach and his team.

The federation highlighted that this action contradicts a presidential decree governing the management of Cameroon's national football teams, which specifically designates Fecafoot as responsible for such matters.

Moreover, Fecafoot noted that it had submitted a list of proposed candidates but had not received any response. Consequently, it expressed "great surprise" at what it termed a "unilateral" decision by the sports ministry to appoint 61-year-old Marc Brys as the new coach the previous day.

Brys, with coaching experience across various clubs in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Saudi Arabia, takes over from Rigobert Song, whose contract was not renewed by Samuel Eto'o after Cameroon's elimination in the last 16 of this year's Africa Cup of Nations.Brys is the third Belgian to take charge of Cameroon. The last was Hugo Broos, who led the country to its fifth AFCON title in 2017.

Cameroon resume their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in June. They are currently top of Group D, following a win over Mauritius and an away draw with Libya.