At the dawn of the 2024-2025 Elite One season, the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) has sparked discontent among local referees.
As the Cameroonian league is set to resume on Saturday after a break of over seven months, and despite opposition from the National Union of Football Players of Cameroon (Synafoc), the referees, united within the Cameroonian Football Referees Association (Acaf), met with Fecafoot and its Secretary-General on Tuesday. Their goal was to demand the payment of outstanding allowances, estimated at 90 million FCFA (approximately 122,558 euros).
For the past three seasons, Cameroonian referees have reportedly received no allowances for their participation in national cup and supercup matches. Unfortunately, the meeting with Fecafoot appears to have provided no satisfactory response to their demands.
Fecafoot Leaves Referees in Uncertainty
“At the end of the meeting, it was decided to establish a formal working framework between Fecafoot and Acaf. However, according to the Secretary-General, Fecafoot is facing serious financial difficulties, although the return of sponsors offers some hope for better prospects. Despite this, no specific timeline has been set for either settling the arrears or paying allowances for the upcoming season,” lamented former referee Batié Robert, spokesperson for the referees, during his appearance on Radio Équinoxe.
According to Camfoot, Cameroonian referees fear an even more complicated season ahead. Unlike the National Union of Cameroonian Football Players (Synafoc) led by Geremi Njitap, which succeeded in having Fecafoot and Samuel Eto’o sanctioned by FIFA, Acaf seems to lack the leverage to put pressure, putting it in a difficult position.
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