By Bakah Derick
The Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) has made public her intention to give the Elite One and Two Championships in the country a new face. This was after a meeting that held in Mbankomo outskirts of Yaounde on Tuesday 4 January 2022. Presided over by the president of the football governing body in the country Samuel Eto'o Fils, the meeting brought together federation authorities and club representatives.
Though Hilltopvoices has not laid hands on the official release that sanctioned that sitting, however, sources close to the governing body including sports news site www.kick442.com have reported what could be considered major fallouts from the come together.
Amongst the decisions is the return of the professional football league whose president Gen Pierre Semengue has already gone to work with a decision circulating on social media creating a working group to better the organisation and reaffirming his institution's position as the lone body vested with the powers to organise Elite football in Cameroon. The President has appointed Abdurahaman Baba to lead the working group. Abdurahaman has surprisingly accepted the nomination with a promise not to fail the retired General.
Another unexpected decision is the reinstatement of clubs relegated to lower rank championships during the just ended season. Amongst the clubs is Foncha FC of Bamenda hitherto considered relegated to the North West regional championship after the playoffs that took place in Douala. David Moh's team will now begin preparations to represent the region alongside Rangers FC of Bafut in the Elite Two Championship. Yong Sports Academy and PWD Bamenda shall represent the region in the Elite One.
While the prize money has been raised to 50 Million and subvention to 10Million FCFA, the interesting thing about the decision is the fact that for the first time teams have this information well ahead of time before the start of the championships. This was not the case with precious administrations. Amounts were never known in public and in time. Hilltopvoices is also gathering that the clubs shall be receiving equipment from the FA.
What doesn't look like a new decision is the fact that the teams shall play in two pools made up of 12 and 13 teams each making a total of 25 clubs for elite and 18 for elite two. This was the case last season though not with the same number of teams after the validation of the 2021 interpool results and reinstatement of relegated clubs.
The kick-off date has been announced for February 21, 2022. Traditional to Cameroon Football is always a postponement. Should there be none this time, it will certainly be another huge achievement for Samuel Eto'o Fils whose arrival at the helm of the country's football governing has generated so much effervescence.