Samuel Eto'o accused of diverting €567,000 in Cameroon FA fees

September 14, 2026 at 08:50 PM2 min

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Former FECAFOOT executives accuse Samuel Eto'o of redirecting more than €567,000 in appearance fees into his personal account. The allegations, published by The Times, relate to payments by Russia for a 2023 friendly against Cameroon. Eto'o denies all allegations, while FIFA and CAF have not responded to requests for comment.

Key Facts

The alleged embezzlement involves more than €567,000 ($665,000) in appearance fees meant for FECAFOOT.
The payments were requested to be paid into an account held by Eto'o with Qatar National Bank in Doha.
Former FECAFOOT executives submitted complaints to FIFA's ethics committee more than a year ago.
Eto'o was suspended by CAF in January for four national team games for alleged misbehaviour during the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Allegations

Former executives of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) accuse Samuel Eto'o of redirecting more than €567,000 ($665,000) in appearance fees into his personal bank account. The allegations were published in The Times newspaper in London. The alleged embezzlement relates to payments by Russia for a friendly international against Cameroon in 2023. According to The Times, files show that two payments were requested to be paid into an account held by Eto'o with Qatar National Bank in Doha, Qatar.

Response and Investigation

Eto'o denies all allegations made against him. FECAFOOT requested a comment but did not receive a response. The former FECAFOOT executives told The Times that they submitted complaints to FIFA's ethics committee more than a year ago but have received no substantive update. Al Jazeera has contacted FIFA and CAF for a response but received no reply.

Previous Controversies

Eto'o was suspended by CAF in January for four national team games for alleged misbehaviour during Cameroon's loss to Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations. FECAFOOT said at the time that the suspension lacked "any explicit justification". Eto'o was also banned from attending national team matches for six months after violating FIFA disciplinary regulations during the 2020 Under-20 Women's World Cup. He was filmed attacking a man following a heated exchange outside a stadium during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and later apologised.