Belgian Marc Brys was appointed coach and selector of the Cameroon men's football team on April 2, 2024, taking over from Rigobert Song. The news was poorly received in the streets of Yaoundé, as well as at Fecafoot, which expressed its astonishment and urged the supervisory ministry to respect the decree of the head of state..
The news came like a bolt from the blue on the 8:30 p.m. news on Cameroon's public television. Marc Brys, the 62-year-old Belgian, was appointed coach of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, succeeding Rigobert Song, so the contract as manager came to an end the day after the Can Côte d'Ivoire 2023. This sounds like an imbroglio. Because the Cameroonian Football Federation indicates through the substance of a press release published on social networks that it was not directly or indirectly associated with the appointment of the Belgian as coach and selector of the Indomitable Lions..
Fecafoot
However, presidential decree number 2014/384 of September 26, 2014 makes Fecafoot the only body capable of appointing officials at the head of the Cameroon national team: “We learned at the same time as all Cameroonians , appointment to positions of responsibility within the Cameroon men's national team ››. Indicates the press release from the umbrella body of Cameroonian football which subsequently notes that: “this decision is taken unilaterally, at the time when Fecafoot has agreed to carry out the very high instructions of the Head of State , by providing its frank collaboration, with a view to achieving appeasement beneficial to the future of our dear indomitable Lions ››.
Marc Brys, a controversial appointment in the streets of Yaoundé.
Very few Cameroonians on the streets of Yaoundé believe in any success of Belgian Marc Brys with the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. Maurice, a civil society actor whom we met in the Briqueterie district in Yaoundé, finds that the ideal at the head of the Lions was not an expatriate coach: 'As a Cameroonian, I would have preferred that we let again Rigobert Song. This is what we saw with Aliou Cissé in Senegal, the beginnings were not easy. But for a few years he succeeded. The new coach is not going to gain anything; the supervisory ministry should let Fecafoot work ››. Maurice also believe that certain senior figures of the Republic believe they live in a separate Cameroon that belongs to them. He continues by noting that the State has nothing to do with the choice of a coach. He asks the responsible minister to enter the stadium and score goals, or failing that, stay in the office and think about improving the performance of other sports federations which are slowly dying.
Indomitable lions, what urgency to renew the former staff of Seydou Mbombo Nyoya ?
The quarrels are far from over within Cameroonian football. The Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouellé Kombi renewed the former technical staff sidelined in 2022 by the new executive of Fecafoot led Samuel Eto'o Fils. Now the dice are rolled. Fecafoot will have to work with Seydou Mbombo Njoya's former team if nothing is done. Her main coach will be Belgian Marc Brys and his two assistants. In this list, Omam Bayick returns to his position as assistant coach which he occupied between 2010 and 2011, then 2019 and 2022 under the orders of Antonio Conceicao. Alioum Boukar returns to his position as goalkeeper coach, he also held the same functions between 2016 and 2019 during the era of Hugo Broos and Clarence Seedorf and Kluivert. Christophe Manouvrier holds the position of physical trainer. He has better mastery of the den since he stayed there in 2017 with an African champion title in Gabon. Benjamin Didier Banlock, the former Secretary General of Fecafoot for many years, is the new coordinator of the national selections. Former Lions central defender Dany Nounkeu replaces Kalla Ngongo as team manager. Cyprien Ashu Besson is assistant coach number 02. Germain Noël Essengue replaces Thierry Ndoh as team press. William Ngatchou is the doctor of the Indomitable Lions. He held this position between 2014 and 2022.
A well-connected source informs us that this position would be reserved for the journalist Jean Bruno Tagne, former campaign director of the current president of Fecafoot Samuel Eto'o, author of the book the scam which paints in black the functioning of the one who was his boss in the elections for president of Fecafoot in December 2021. He is also author of the book entitled programmed to fail, where he criticizes the process which made Samuel Eto'o the captain of the Indomitable Lions in 2010.
As a reminder, with the renewal of this staff set aside by the new executive of Fecafoot in February 2022, it is clear that the quarrels between the Cameroonian football federation and the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education are far from over. be completed. Because early this morning the federation expressed its indignation following these maneuvers by the minsep and urged the supervisory ministry to respect the decree of the head of state.
J. Patrick DJON
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