It Is Not My Job To Pretend Everything Is Fine With The Cameroon National Team – Eto’o

Cameroon football federation president, Samuel Eto’o has come out to defend himself against accusations that he undermined coach Rigobert Song’s authority when he laid into the players following a 1-1 draw against Burundi in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in June. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, he never undermined the manager in any way because he actually fought for him to become coach of the national team when the position was up for grabs.

Eto’o added that his job is not to pretend everything is fine with the national team, and he is well within his rights to intervene if things are not going well.

His words, “I fought for him [Song] to be the coach but I am the president.”

“The coach is selected and he reports to me. I am within my rights to intervene if I find that something does not work well. That’s the role of the president.”

“My job is not only to come and say everything is fine, I defend my players, I will defend him [Song] until my last drop of blood but it is also my duty to say if something is not right. You know sometimes when passion flows, it is difficult to control yourself.”

“I have to anticipate all aspects because I saw certain situations which were not what I wanted when I was a player. Not because we were not good but because we had not realised and anticipated the fact that the expectations were so high and so we have to respond strongly from this experience today.”

“If I see a player not doing their job, I will wear my president’s costume and that of the federation. My executive committee and myself will take the necessary decision.”