Cameroon FA confirms Samuel Eto’o’s 15-match ban

This time it’s for real. Samuel Eto’o has been slapped with a 15-match suspension for instigating a strike action within the Cameroon national team last month after officials delayed the payment of match bonuses from the LG Cup held in Morocco. The player strike subsequently botched up a scheduled international friendly against Algeria on Nov. 15.

After a disciplinary hearing held by the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecfoot) in Yaounde on Dec. 12, which Eto’o attended personally, the local media immediately revealed that the Anzhi forward had been banned for seven international games, but the body denied saying it was yet to reach a verdict. The Fecafoot confirmed the 15-match ban to Goal.com.

The team’s vice-captain Enoh Eyong, accused of conspiring with Eto’o, was given a two-match ban, while Tottenham’s Benoit Assou-Ekotto, who has been spurning call-ups, was fined $2000 (€1,500).

Eto’o told reporters after the hearing that the reasons for the strike action were deeper and broader than the match bonus affair, assuring that Cameroonians would soon hear “the whole truth” of the matter.

Newly appointed coach Denis Lavagne and his assistant Martin Ndtoungou Mpile, as well as the Fecafoot vice-president Francis Mveng were also heard by the committee.

The Algeria football federation, which is demanding 770,000 euros in damages incurred from the scrapped meeting, saluted the exemplary decision of the Fecafoot, but did not say whether it would abandon its case against the Cameroonian body.

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