Cameroon B handler Martin Ndtoungou Mpile has raised the alarm over the country’s preparations for the 2021 African Nations Championship (Chan).
Tournament hosts Intermediate Lions will be featuring in the event for the fourth time with their best outing being a quarter-final finish at the 2011 and 2016 editions.
Expectations are high to emerge as Chan 2021 champions, however, Ndtoungou who replaced sacked Yves Clement Arroga in October, has raised the alarm in his quest to put together a conquering side.
"We're supposed to take the best players to Chan but where are we supposed to get them from when there's no championship?" said Ndtoungou as per BBC Sport.
"I'm not yet serene over the team's current situation. We had elaborated a plan hoping that the league will kick off but we've had to change everything and it's just an ugly situation.
"No one is happy with this situation. We're just trying to limit the damage because right now we're not where we want to be."
The absence of a Cameroonian league and a mass exodus of players has left the veteran tactician – who led the country to a quarter-final finish at Rwanda 2016 - with the option of calling up clubless but experienced players like 34-year-old Patrick Mevoungou plus Yannick N'Djeng and Franck Ondoa Edima who both compete for fifth-tier clubs.
Cameroon have been without a championship since March due to the impact of Covid-19 and as a result of the upshot of a fierce power tussle between the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) and the country's professional football league (LFPC).
As a result of that, 19 top and second flight Cameroonian clubs recently called for the disbanding of the country's professional football league (LFPC), mentioning the poor organisation and management of the leagues.
Cameroon have been zoned in Group A alongside Mali, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe. They begin their campaign against the Warriors at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde.
The competition initially billed to commence in April 2020 was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, which brought footballing activities to a stop.
Morocco are the tournament’s defending champions having silenced Nigeria 4-0 in the final of the 2018 edition played in Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca.
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