Comprehensive Preparatory Programme for Lions

The programme was jointly presented Wednesday January 8, 2014 in a ceremony in Yaounde by the President of the Normalisation Committee and the coach of the Indomitable Lions.

The much awaited programme for the preparation of the Indomitable Lions for the 2014 World Cup was finally rendered public yesterday in a ceremony at the Yaounde Sports Complex by the President of the Normalisation Committee of Fecafoot, Joseph Owona and the team coach, Volker Finke. The programme appreciated by most football pundits dwells on issues such as the lodging, building a conquering squad, instilling the Lion's fighting spirit, ticketing as well as sponsorship of the squad.

Base Camp:

Concerning the issue of lodging, the Cameroonian delegation will establish their base at the Sheraton hotel in Vitoria-Natal in the Santo Spirito region of Brazil from where they will move to the various game cities and back during the competition. The venue was chosen by FECAFOOT after consulting the team coach, Volker Finke. Finke said Vitoria was chosen on the advice of some of the best medical doctors in Germany, taking in consideration the weather conditions as well as the availability of training facilities.

Conquering Squad:

On the issue of building a conquering squad for the Brazil 2014 campaign, Joseph Owona said delegations gad been sent out of the country to win back players with dual nationality and urge them to play for Cameroon. He urged the coach, Volker Finke to beef up the defence and make the mid field more offensive. In this light, Volker Finke disclosed that there will be a special training camp for home-based players which he will personally supervise and if only good players emerged, they would be included in the squad. He promised to start the training camp with about 30 players from among whom 23 will be shortlisted to defend the national colours in Brazil. In addition to this, Finke said he is also monitoring the performance of Cameroonian players in their various clubs in Europe and Asia.

Lion's Fighting Spirit:

Concerning reviving the fighting spirit of the Lions, Joseph Owona urged the players to draw inspiration from their predecessors and to play without any complex. One doesn't choose opponents at the world cup and should therefore brace up to face any opponent. Brazil has the Neymar but Cameroon also has its own Neymar in the bud, he said. He called on the press to work to build team solidarity and not destroy it by diffusing false information. He reiterated the support of the federation for Volker Finke for not only having enabled Cameroon to qualify for the World Cup but won their last qualification match against Tunisia with style.

Sparring Partners:

The federation in cooperation with the coach have so far negotiated two friendly matches with Germany and Portugal. Negotiations are still underway to have a sparring partner from Latin America. The rationale behind the choice of sparring partners, Finke said, is to have teams from central Europe who practise the same football style as Croatia and from Latin America who play like Brazil and Mexico.

Tickets:

The president of the Normalisation Committee said there is going to be transparency in the sails of tickets so as to avoid a repeat of the scandal of 1998 where tickets meant for Cameroon were put on sale in some foreign countries. He said someone has been appointed to take care of the tickets sales and is presently undergoing training in Europe. He said a special press conference will be convened to explain the procedures of acquiring tickets.

Sponsorship:

In sheer proof of transparency, Joseph Owona disclosed that FIFA offered about 1.5 million euros about CFA984 million to all teams that qualified to prepare for the competition. In addition to this, the official sponsor of the Indomitable Lions, Puma, has also offered the sum of 500.000 euros about CFA328 million, to Cameroon. He however stated that not all the money will be used for preparation as part of it will be used to cater for the Lions during the competition and another part to sponsor youth and feminine football, though he disclosed that club presidents were asking for thirty per cent of that money.