By Bakah Derick
March 19, 2021 remains a historic day in the life of PWD social football club of Bamenda. This day on their way to Yaounde for a league fixture against Dragon of Yaounde, the team's 30 seater bus went up in flames before the very eyes of helpless players, technical staff and team administrators. The cause of the fire is not known till date. The team will then be given several days with matches postponed to recover from the sad incident as transportation was now a daunting task.
As if North West elite were waiting for the incident, contributions which we gathered were spearheaded by the Minister Delegate at the Ministry of external relations in charge of the Commonwealth Felix Mbayu were immediately launched. Before Saturday 20 March 2021 could end, over 40million Francs CFA had been raised. In less than a week, over 50 million was reported. The sum which the coordinators said was lodged in a bank with the account details circulating, was later put at the disposition of the director of customs Edwin Fongod, an elite of the region from Bali.
Since the pictures of the new bus circulated on social media raising anxiety amongst fans and supporters, supprinsingly till date almost a year, the bus is yet to be seen in public.
The President of PWD Bamenda, Abunde Pascal has confirmed to www.hilltopcoices.com that the facility is not yet available; an incident he described as unfortunate. While staying positive, the president blames the unavailability on supply chain issues and COVID-19 restrictions. He has remained hopeful that the bus will be available soon.
While describing the cup of Cameroon as an uncomfortable situation for the club, Abunde Pascal said "we have actually been preparing for this finals for quite sometime now. Since the end of the championship, we thought that the finals was going to take place in the month of October and then we waited and thought November and then December and here we are." He said
Not ready to give up, the PWD strong man hopes that the finals could be played this month. "We are hoping that thw finals will be played in the month of February. You know the decision doesn't come from the FA. It is the civil cabinet of the presidency the dates it is going to take place. My understanding is that certain date a have been sent to the presidency and we are waiting for a response to that effect." He noted
Preparing a team and waiting indefinitely according to Abunde is a difficult thing to do.
"It is very difficult for us because we keep preparing a team training and forced to keep players for five months hoping that the finals was going to take place. When the team is that position it is extremely difficult because not only the team spends a lot of financial resources for a game that is not played but again scientifically it is difficult, it is challenging for you to prepare a team for a game that you are not sure of exactly when it is going to take place." Abunde explained.
Information available to the club says that finals of the Cameroon Cup shall be played before the beginning of the championship which has been announced for February 21, 2022.
A release from the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) on the Tuesday 8 February 2022 has convened some seven members of the referees commission to designate officials for the cup final. This is an indicated the final maybe close.
It is the second cup of Cameroon in finals in the club's history. They lost the first in 1979 and are hoping to correct their mistake should they begin the opportunity to face Astre FC of Douala.