In the country of the five-time African champions (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017), football is also played on the political field, where both the government and opponents of the regime are active. Recent development: a certain opinion attributes political intentions to Samuel Eto’o, former captain of the Indomitable Lions.
From our correspondent in Yaoundé,
Solemnity. Gravity. Firmness. On this February 10, 2024, in his traditional “message” to young people, the president Paul Biyabroke somewhat with the custom of celebrating the Indomitable Lions in favor of their previous victorious epics. I know how important football is to you. The State, in the difficult context we are in, is making heavy financial sacrifices in this regard. It is therefore entitled to demand better organisation and better results. “, affirmed the Cameroonian head of state, “disappointed” by the elimination of the national team football in the round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024, in Ivory Coast. The President of the Republic announced that he had given instructions to the government in this regard.
Proof that football at Cameroon is a political and policy matter. Illustration: heavy investments have been made by the public authorities with a view to providing the country with modern infrastructure, as we saw with the organization of the CAN 2019, which became the CAN 2021, finally played in early 2022.
The stakes are such that ” It was the President of the Republic who was personally involved in awarding the organization of the CAN 2019 to Cameroon. Moreover, the expenses incurred for the Indomitable Lions do not appear in the budget of the Ministry in charge of Sports included in the Finance Law “, confides a senior state official, suggesting that the highest authorities do not joke with the national team, even in times of austerity.
The president of the Republic, “ first Cameroonian sportsman »
What justifies that all the glory goes to the president? Football in Cameroon under Paul Biya has reached its peak. The Indomitable Lions reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup, achieving an unprecedented feat for an African nation until then. Paul Biya’s special intervention so that Roger Milla, the hero recognized during the 1990 World Cup, was included in this epic of Italy remains vivid in the memories “, recalls, triumphantly, the presidential cabinet, in a brochure published during the CAN 2021.
A little detour through history. 1984. First CAN won in Ivory Coast. The President of the Republic exults: ” […] It is therefore legitimate that the victory of Abidjan, which exalts the virtues of our people and which honors our country, is perceived as the victory of the National Renewal. [projet de société proposé par Paul Biya, dès son accession à la magistrature suprême le 6 novembre 192, NDLR] “.
Since then, the exploits of the Indomitable Lions have been attributed to the President of the Republic, “ first Cameroonian sportsman “, “ twelfth man of Cameroonian football “According to a certain tradition, the Head of State has always solemnly celebrated the victories of the national team cited as an example for the Cameroonian people.
It has happened that a presidential address evokes a particular political context. This was the case the day after the Lions’ final victory in 2017: ” The message you have conveyed is clear.. Whether you are from the north or the south, the east or the west, you are first and foremost Cameroonians. (…) Cameroonians who love their country and are ready to make any sacrifice to carry its colours high. Your beautiful performance proves it again, when Cameroonians are united and supportive, nothing can stop them. “, affirmed Paul Biya.
Analysts linked this speech to the security crisis that began in late 2016, in English speaking regions from the northwest to the southwest, where secessionist armed groups are active, facing the regular defense forces. Already in 1990, opinions attributed to the Lions, quarter-finalists of the World Cup, the momentary decrease in the socio-political tensions then in force, against a backdrop of demands for the restoration of multiparty politics.
” Football is one of the elements of Cameroonian identity”
A resolutely political background and ulterior motives for this football which is recognised as having a certain unifying power. Football is also political because Cameroonians are fond of this sport. It is the only element that unites Cameroonians. No politician can ignore this. It is one of the elements of Cameroonian identity. Football is a factor of integration, of national unity. “, explains political scientist Emmanuel Wonyu, a lecturer at the Institute of International Relations of Cameroon (Iric) in Yaoundé.
Moreover, Paul Biya has someone to take after: “Football has regularly been exploited as a political resource by both heads of state. With Ahmadou Ahidjo [premier président de la République de 1960 à 1982, NDLR]as under Biya, football has become a space for the expression of politics, sometimes to exploit popular fervor on the occasion of victories in competitions as proof of their contribution to national construction, sometimes to grant themselves the creation of victories in order to reclaim the joys generated by this sport. “, analyses sociologist Claude Abe, from the Catholic University of Central Africa, in Yaoundé. Such political recovery has contributed to making football a political issue and an object of propaganda. “, the academic specifies.
Despite everything, there are lines of demarcation between the two heads of state. For example: “Ahmadou Ahidjo, upon his accession to the supreme office of the Republic, will have immediately demonstrated an unreserved taste for supporting Cameroonian football. This is how he will become a fervent supporter of Canon Yaoundé for its continental performances and subsequently of the Union sportive de Douala, another club of continental reputation “, confides Abel Mbengue, a respected former sports columnist who knew the Ahidjo and Biya regimes. According to the journalist, Ahmadou Ahidjo readily used the State’s logistical resources to ensure the international transport of teams and sovereignty bonuses.
A marker of recent developments is the entry into play of actors who do not hold the highest positions in the State. During the election campaign for the October 2018 presidential election, Maurice Kamtocandidate of the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC) swapped, during some of his meetings, the obligatory suit and tie for blue jeans, sneakers, cap, and… jersey, bearing the number 237, the telephone code for Cameroon.
During this same political sequence, the opponent presented himself as the “penalty taker” ” advantageously transformed. Underlying: he was the winner of this electoral competition, officially won by Paul Biya, in the meantime entered into history as “The Lion-Man”, since the presidential election of 1992, both symbol of the “King of the forest”, and reference to the national team.
Thirty-two years later, with a presidential election scheduled for 2025, Samuel Eto’o Filsthe popular president of Fécafoot, is suspected of projecting himself as the successor to Paul Biya. The “9” as his supporters call him, appears with politicians of the regime, multiplies denials on his alleged political intentions, and assumes his “unwavering support” for the President of the Republic. The least we can say is that the games remain open.