By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Envoys of the International Football governing body, FIFA have stressed that before the start of the electoral process at Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT, two things must be done; account auditing and the amendment by Parliament of Law N°2011/018 of 15 July 2011 relating to the organization and promotion of physical and sport activities.
The two officials made up of the FIFA Director of Development of Africa and Caribbean regions, Veron Mosengo Omba and the FIFA Manager of Association members, Luc Nicola announced at a press conference at the Yaounde Multipurpose Sports Complex that the 6 months mandate of FECAFOOT Normalization Committee which expired last February 28, 2018 has been extended by 6 more months.
They expressed optimism that FECAFOOT Normalization Committee led by Maitre Dieudonné Happi may complete their work before the new mandate expires next August 31, 2018 due to the fact that the texts sent to FIFA by FECAFOOT are ready since one month and amended by FIFA.
While the two officials left the country after announcing the extension, two FIFA auditors spent 10 days at FECAFOOT in order to check the situation of money allocated to Cameroon within the framework of programmes and projects linked to the development of female football and youth football from 2014 to 2017; (annual programme financial assistance of FCFA 125 million making a total of FCFA 500 million in 4 years.)
The extension of the mandate of the Normalization Committee is coming at a time when Cameroon football is rocked by internal squabbles and division among club managers and players. The situation is worsened by poor management of some clubs which has led to disunity among football officials and players and has of recent hampered the performance of Cameroonian teams both in the national and international scene.
It is said that the law that permits the Chambre of Conciliation and Arbitration to take unilateral decisions without the consent of all the concerned parties is incompatible with the obligation which FIFA imposes on association members to manage their affairs in an independent manner without the influence of a third party. Legal experts argue that so long as this Law is not amended, any effort to redress FECAFOOT will turn out to be futile in the long run because problems hitherto encountered in the past will keep hunting the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT.
In the next 6 months the, the Normalization Committee will have to work harder in order to manage the affairs of the institution and lay the groundwork for the election of a new executive bureau at FECAFOOT.