Cameroon coach Volker Finke will remain at his post for another two years after his contract was extended on Monday.

The Cameroon football federation (FECAFOOT) had no intention of renewing the contract of the 67-year-old German which was to expire on May 23. The body had begun the search for a successor before it received orders to finalise a new deal for Finke.

The local media and supporters of the Indomitable Lions have been critical of the coach following the team’s debacle at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea where they failed to progress from the group stage.

However, Finke is backed by the team’s kit sponsor Puma, which pays his $32,000 monthly salary, and also by the country’s presidency, which was principally behind the renewal of his contract, according to Cameroon-Info.

Finke, who had been on vacation in Germany, returned to the central African nation last week to canvass for support in order to “stay on and accomplish the project he has started with the Lions”.

Cameroon will play a friendly match against Burkina Faso on June 6 in Paris, before facing Mauritania for the 2015 Afcon qualifier on June 12.