After Bamboutos de Mbouda in January, it is the turn of the Union of Sports Movements of Loum to face the mood of players who demand their salaries.
In a statement published on February 10, 2023, the club’s secretary general, Joseph Tchungno, believes that this situation is the result of a “unilateral” 100% increase by the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) in players’ salaries, the non-payment of the remaining State subsidy for the 2021-2022 season and the non-payment of the remaining Fecafoot
According to this official, only 11 million out of the 48 promised by the federation, to support the increase in the minimum wage of players from 100,000 to 200,000 FCFA, have already been paid. And according to our information, the balance of the state subsidy for the 2021-2022 season would amount to 21 million FCFA. This makes a total of 58 million FCFA.
According to many concordant indiscretions, the UMS and Bamboutos cases of Mbouda are nothing more than the tree that hides the forest. Many MTN Elite One clubs suffer from this situation in silence.
A player agent who knows the national championship knows well that only a few clubs, such as Coton sport de Garoua, the largest budget of the MTN Elite One, still manage to pay its players regularly. And above all to respect the increase in the minimum wage of 100% promoted by Samuel Eto’o Fils, the president of Fecafoot.
Loum UMS officials indicate that Fecafoot has not stopped giving “unfulfilled appointments” to clubs, which suffocate financially. This is so much so that UMS has even promised to throw in the towel by declaring a general forfeit if the situation does not improve.
All eyes are therefore turned to the Fecafoot. A collaborator of Samuel Eto’o Fils, who speaks anonymously, says that this situation is due to the fact that not all clubs have yet produced the supporting documents for the use of the first tranche of the grant they received. But sources close to this file are convinced that this reason is only a pretext because Fecafoot is currently facing a cash crisis.
