Lions Commission nears end of investigation

With just seven days to go for answers to be expected from the commission set up by the prime minister to investigate the reasons behind the abysmal performance of the Indomitable Lions at this year’s World Cup, all hands are on deck.

The president instructed Head of Government Philemong Yang, on June 25, to submit the results within one month and come up with a proposal for an urgent restructuring of Cameroonian football.

The Commission of Inquiry is headed by the Secretary-General Louis Paul Motaze and Special Advisor to the PM, Professor Touna Mama. Alongside them is a dozen people including policemen, gendarmes and officers or directors of the PM's Office.

"At first, it happened that we meet from 7:30am to 7pm. Now it's more relaxed as we move towards the end. We are entering the phase of restitution, "says a well-connected source to the CT.

To date, the exact number has been not confirmed but it is believed between 30 and 45 people have been interviewed. On the profile of those interviewed hearings are targeted and do not concern the football community globally, but specific individuals.

According to our source, the Commission meet either on the 6th floor of the Star Building in the main conference room or in another room that can hold about twenty people.

At the Cameroon Football Federation, the chairman of the Standards Committee, Joseph Owona, was heard as well as its general secretary, Tombi Roko. Later, Michel Kaham, Joseph Antoine Bell, Roger Milla, Director of National Teams, Oumaraini, are also passed to the Commission.

Journalist Jean-Bruno Tagne, head of the political department of the Le Jour and author of a book on the Lions in 2010, was heard for several reasons. "First, it was the world cup. Then he wrote a book about the collapse of Lions in South Africa, and finally to his involvement with Samuel Eto'o Fils,"explains our source.

A questionnaire, duly prepared is given to each witness heard and some people are even being heard twice.

"I spent 45 minutes. Everyone is trying to understand. The atmosphere is not cold. Not like a police inquiry," says another source who requested anonymity. Not everyone receives the same questionnaire. The questions are based on the profile auditioned. For some, talking about the Brazilian debacle, they are asked to identify the culprits and to say what has not worked on Brazilian soil.

The Commission also relies on previous consultations in its investigation. "We summarise as and when, according to reports we receive," added the source.

Another witness said: “The truth must be told to take the right decisions. We fell very low. We never reached that level. The management of MINSEP-Fécafoot contributes to the disorder because players do not know whom to turn to. They do not know their real boss.”