FECAFOOT elections cancelled

The FECAFOOT elections slated for February 25, has been cancelled as the Court for Arbitration of Sports, CAS, has ruled in favour of Essomba Eyanga and Abdouraman Hamadou in the case 2014/A/3829 faulting the Fecafoot.

The decision cancels the electoral process, based on the new statutes which has been considered null. Election process will thus have to re-start from the very fundamental.

Fecafoot rejected the decision of the Conciliation and Arbitrary Chambers of the Cameroon National Olympic and Sports Committee, CNOSC, cancelling the general assembly of 23rd August 2014 which validated the statutes and the electoral process.

CCA-CNOSC cancelled all resolutions taken during the said general assembly to adopt the statutes and electoral code, by its decision of October 30. The argument was that, the competent general assembly was that of 2009 and not August 23, 2013 which the Normalisation Committee in collaboration with Fifa opted for.

Then, Fifa indicated that the CCA-CNOSC was not completed to adjudicate on matters of elections at Fecafoot and the Normalisation Committee continued with the electoral process.

Prof. Joseph Owona in press conference regretted that Fecafoot failed to appeal to the decision of CCA-CNOSC then. However, the president of the Normalisation Committee has already written to Fifa for the next step to take.

In a communiqué released on February 20, Owona had declared the electoral process suspended and the general assembly annulled. “The on-going electoral process at the Fecafoot has been suspended. The General Assembly set for February 25 is cancelled” the release reads.

Meanwhile, the actors of the opposite camp have saluted the decision of CAS, and on the implication of the decision, Abdouraman told wwww.lions4life.com “the new statutes have to be adopted in conformity with the law and the 2009 general assembly”.

Two options are therefore open for Fifa to either prolong the mandate of the Normalisation Committee for a third time or put in place a Provisional Management Committee, to run the federation.

Installed in July 2013, the Normalisation Committee has witnessed two prolongations and a third may not be welcome in the eyes of some Cameroonians who think the committee was a failure.

The problems of the Fecafoot are deeply rooted in the election of Iya Mohammed’s list while he was in prison; Essomba Eyenga and co estimated they were the legitimate office holders with their first vice-president John Begehni Ndeh.

They took over the federation with the help the gendarmes and the first Vice president in the Iya elected list, Seidou Mbombo Njoya had to resign.

Fifa stepped in to condition the suspension of Cameroon on when the government agreed to the appointment and installation of the Normalisation Committee.

The committee with Prof. Joseph Owona as President had an initial eight month mandate to revise the statutes, conduct elections and run the federation.

Fifa after extending the second mandate gave the ultimatum that the elections be held by February 28.

Whatever the case, many have argued that it is time for parties to go beyond the court decision to dialogue to the good of football.

All eyes are therefore turned in the direction of the world's football governing body for their decision.