Cameroon FA president Samuel Eto’o has laid out an elaborate security plan for the Indomitable Lions during their camp in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
The Indomitable Lions will be staying at the five-star Banyan Tree Hotel in Doha, which has some of the best amenities in the city, and Fecafoot will ensure players are protected from any outside interference.
“From a security point of view, a security bubble will be created around the group,” said a statement on Fecafoot’s website following Eto’o tour of the facility, accompanied Cameroon technical bench led by coach Rigobert Song in Tuesday.
“Nearly 50 agents will be made available to the hotel. In this sense, all the space dedicated to players and coaches will only be accessible on presentation of an accreditation. An elevator will also be reserved exclusively for players and will only stop on the floors where they will be accommodated,” added the statement.
Unlike before when such arrangements were made solely by the federation, Eto’o decided to seek the opinion of the technical bench before settling on the venue.
Cameroon are in one of the toughest pools at the World Cup, having beep drawn in Group G alongside five-time winners Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia.
The Indomitable Lions will open their campaign on November 24 against the Swiss before taking on Serbia four days later and conclude the group phase against the Samba Boys on December 2.
Cameroon’s trips to the World Cup have been dogged by controversy before, especially in 2014, when the players refused to board their plane to Brazil due to a disagreement over bonus payment with the government.
The standoff forced the federation to take out a loan to meet the players’ demands while increasing the sum given to each player by $12,000. Eto’o has, however, vowed to ensure a repeat of such incidents does not happen during his tenure.
Cameroon qualified for the World Cup after stunning Algeria 2-1 away in Algiers to sail through on away goals following a 2-2 aggregate result, having lost 1-0 at home in the first leg.
The Indomitable Lions, who missed the 2018 edition in Russia, have only managed to go past the group stage once when a Roger Milla-inspired side reached the quarter-finals in 1990 in Italy.
