Cameroon appoints Martin Ndtoungou as interim coach after Marc Brys is sidelined
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Marc Brys was appointed coach by the Cameroon sports ministry in April, against the wishes of football federation president Samuel Eto’o.
PHOTO: AFP
The Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) have sidelined newly-appointed Belgian coach Marc Brys and replaced him with Martin Ndtoungou on an interim basis ahead of 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June, the organisation said in a statement.
The decision follows a heated exchange between Brys and federation president Samuel Eto’o on May 28, the culmination of a stand-off between the pair after the Belgian was appointed by the country’s sports ministry in April, against the wishes of Eto’o.
Brys had been invited for a working session on Tuesday but several of his support staff, also appointed by the sports ministry, were refused entry to the building in Yaounde.
Fecafoot later called a meeting of its emergency committee, which decided to make the change.
The move could put Eto’o on a collision course with the sports ministry, which has so far stood its ground on the appointment of Brys despite opposition from the federation.
Normally, football federations appoint and pay their coaches but in some African countries this is done by the government, especially when federations are short of funds.
Cameroon have four points from their first two qualifiers and next host Cape Verde on June 8 and travel to Angola three days later. Libya, Mauritius and Eswatini complete Group D.
Only the winners of each of the nine six-team groups qualify automatically for the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico. REUTERS
