Owona Wants Eto’o, Makoun And Webo fired forever

Joseph Owona, Chairman of FECAFOOT’s Normalization Committee, is demanding that skipper Samuel Eto’o, captain of the national football team, the Indomitable Lions, be booted out of the team forever.

However, the call isn’t coming as an after effect of the team’s abysmal performance against Mexico and especially Croatia in the ongoing FIFA 2014 World Cup. Owona’s appeal for the sacking of Eto'o and two others stems from a misunderstanding that ensued between him and the players just before they took off for Brazil.

Before the Lions left for Brazil, Owona sent a written petition to the Minister of Sports and Physical Education and copied the Secretary General at the Presidency, as well as the Prime Minister, requesting that Eto’o, Jean II Makoun and Achille Webo be expelled from the national team.

The Journal gathered that the Presidency and the Prime Minister’s office immediately objected to the suggestion, arguing that sacking the players was going to demoralize and destabilize the rest of the squad in the World Cup adventure.

At the time, many initially thought Owona was acting out of patriotism for the nation. But it’s beginning to surface that the move wasn’t informed by the players refusal to leave for Brazil as Owona would want the officials to believe.

Owona’s move to have the players fired appeared to have been motivated by self-centered ego and personal interest.

He developed resentment against the players the days before they left for Brazil after the trio had called for his termination from the helm of the FECAFOOT committee, accusing him of being the reason behind the many problems the players were having.

After Cameroon lost its first two matches against Mexico and Croatia, the Journal learned that Owona again began the campaign, voicing his desire to see the three players Fired.

Eto’o, we learned, spent a couple of nights in underground negotiations in Brazil with members of the committee trying to have the squabble settled amicably. But the result of the match with Croatia in which Cameroon lost 1-4, we learned, has stiffened Owona’s resolve.

Eto’o and the rest of the players, perhaps anticipating the heat that awaits them at home, we learned, had suggested an arrangement were they leave Brazil straight to their foreign homes. But the proposal was categorically rejected by Owona and Adoum Garoua, Sports and Physical Education Minister. The team’s head coach, Volker Finke had also expressed the desire to stay back in Brazil and watch a few other matches before returning to Cameroon, but his request was equally turned down.

In a related story, Alex Song has been sanctioned by the world football governing body, FIFA. The sanctions which include a three-match ban and a fine of about 11M FCFA, was issued on Monday June 23 by the FIFA disciplinary committee.

The Indomitable Lions midfielder’s absence from the match against Brazil on Monday June 23 was considered one of the three matches he is supposed to miss, as punishment for the hostility he demonstrated during the match against Croatia.

Song’s chase of Croatia's striker, Mandzukic during Cameroon’s second match, raising his elbow in the air to bring him downwards on the back shocked both Cameroonian and Croatian fans, and earned him a direct red card from the central referee.

He was sent off the field immediately, and as a result, his fellow team mates were demoralized, given that he left the pitch at the 40th minute when they were already one goal down. The match ended 4-0 in favour of Croatia.