EDITORIAL

Football management decree: Biya solves one problem but creates nine

The creation of the national football academy and the signing of a presidential decree on the financial and administrative management of the Federation of Cameroon Football, FECAFOOT, within two days are indicative of government’s determination to clean the mud that has smeared the game over the years. But the decree, to The Guardian Post, is in some aspects a recipe for confrontation between the officials of the ministry of sports and physical education and those of FECAFOOT. Both have over the years been at each other’s throat and the decree to impose “collaboration” and “consultation” between the pair would not be as fluid as intended.

As past experience has made it known, the quandary between the two organs has always revolved on the show of power. That is why FECAFOOT is currently being managed by a FIFA-decreed normalisation committee that has been working on a constitution that will define the management of the association independent of government interference.

Can sections of the presidential decree not be interpreted as interfering in the management of FECAFOOT?

FIFA, the supreme authority of soccer, has always insisted that football associations, be they in the developing or developed countries, should be independent of governments which may provide facilities such as stadia, security and finance to their soccer associations. But the bitter quinine for politicians has been that FIFA does not agree with the melody that: “he who pays the piper should dictate the tune.”

The September 26 decree is intended to solve the financial and management tribulations that often simmer in FECAFOOT, pitting its officials against those of the supervisory ministry. The fiat was signed, reportedly on the recommendation of a committee the president ordered the prime minister, head of government, Philemon Yang to institute and investigate the shame which the national soccer team brought to the nation at the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

Unlike the 1972 decree which assigns the administrative management of the national team to a “national technical commission,” the new fiat allocates the administrative, sportive and technical selection and management of the national team to the competence of FECAFOOT.

Where there is likely to be conflict is the appointment of a national coordinator and two assistants by the FECAFOOT president.

Wouldn’t government want to influence the choice of those to be appointed?  What will happen if the executive of FECAFOOT thinks the coordinators should be appointed from within their members? What will be the qualifications of the three and what if the FECAFOOT president who will be the final authority in football matters is in opposition?

The decree provides that in the selection of the national team, 30% of the players should be from local clubs while 70% would be from the professional players based abroad. In which case, a squad of 11 players should have at least three home-based teammates. What if the three are not competent, should they just be selected to encourage home players in an era where nearly all the local stars are being hunted by international soccer scouts?

Would that not be akin to encouraging mediocrity instead of allowing the soccer technicians to select players based on competence rather than on quotas that will brew conflicts between the ministry that will insist the decree be respected to the letter? The government, as expected, will provide a yearly subvention which FECAFOOT will use to pay bonuses “in consultation” with the ministry. But there would be trouble when both sides do not agree as has been the case in the past.

As concerns preparation for competitions, the national team will be assembling six months ahead of the World Cup, three months for the African Nations Cup or the Olympics, two months for other competitions, one month before an official qualification match and 15 days for a friendly encounter.

In as much as the timing is good to give enough space for sufficient preparation, the decree does not take into consideration the period FIFA allows for professional players abroad to take leave of their clubs to prepare for national teams. The practical modalities of the decree will be provided by a text of application which is yet to be issued. It is the instructions that will give the nitty-gritty of the presidential intentions to bring discipline and positive results in the football game with its lure of money and fame.

Because of the cacophony usually associated with the management of Cameroon football, FIFA has on at least two occasions hammered Cameroon for meddling in the affairs of FECAFOOT. The crux of the problems has not actually been management but the power struggle between the supervisory minister and the FECAFOOT president. They have often found it difficult to collaborate due to the financial trappings and egoistic considerations.

Even the president of the temporal normalisation committee of FECAFOOT, Joseph Owona was reported to have fallen out with the minister of sports and physical education in Brazil to the point they changed their hotels to avoid each other.

Such disagreements have often had its rotten roots on who gets what in bonuses and allowances. The discords have also centered on who should be included in delegations to foreign matches where every ministry scrambles to be represented including even the national assembly.

At The Guardian Post, we sincerely believe that the decree is intended to put an end to the squabbles but where the “collaboration” between the ministry and FECAFOOT is not based on mutual trust, respect for each other and justice, the problem will continue to lift up its ugly head.

The normalisation committee has spent months working with a FIFA representative to draft a constitution that will solve some of the problems President Biya’s decree is designed to redress. But where we fear a standoff is where sections of the decree are at variance with the constitution of FECAFOOT which is “independent” of the government. The tendency will be for the FECAFOOT executive to stand by their constitution and ignore the presidential prescription knowing that any attempt by the presidency to call them to order would evoke the red card of FIFA.

That is a match the presidency should avoid as it works out modalities on how the new generation of soccer management in Cameroon will work so as to avoid another FIFA penalty against Cameroon.