Sports

Eto’o rejects Belgian coach hired by Cameroonian govt

Published

3 weeks ago

April 5, 2024

President of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), Samuel Eto’o, has kicked against the hiring of Belgian coach, Marc Brys, as the new manager of the national team by the government.

The former international striker made his feelings known in a letter to the country’s sports ministry to reject what he terms as the “illegal” appointment of the Belgian to manage the Indomitable Lions.

“The national federation cannot recognise these appointments made outside any legal and regulatory framework,” Eto’o who is Cameroon’s all-time leading goal scorer, said in the letter which has generated a lot of comments in the country.

He further noted that Fecafoot was not involved “closely, nor remotely” in the selection process for the new coach and his backroom staff.

Eto’o added that going behind Fecafootcl to appoint Brys goes against a presidential decree relating to the organisation of Cameroon’s national football teams which specifies that Fecafoot is responsible for their management.

He says the federation had not received a response to its list of proposed candidates which is great surprise, only to hear that the Sports Ministry had taken a “unilateral” decision to appoint the 61-year-old Brys.

Brys, a widely traveled tactician who has coached a number of clubs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia, was appointed on Wednesday to succeed Rigobert Song, whose contract was not renewed after Cameroon were knocked out in the last 16 of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations by Nigeria.

Brys becomes the third Belgian to take charge of Cameroon after Hugo Broos, who led the country to its fifth AFCON title in 2017.

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Sports

Al Ahly, Esperance to clash in CAF Champions League final

Published

2 days ago

April 27, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Two of Africa’s club giants, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Esperance of Tunisia, will do battle next month over two legs for the right to be crowned champions of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Title-holders Al Ahly and their long-standing rivals Esperance both booked their places in the final with dramatic semi-final victories over DR Congo”s TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa respectively on Friday night.

While Al Ahly, winners of five of the last seven editions of the continent’s top draw tournament, with a record 11 in total, overcame TP Mazembe with a 3-0 aggregate victory in the semi-final second leg after a goalless first leg last Saturday, Esperance surprised Sundowns with a 1-0 victory in Pretoria to wrap up a 2-0 aggregate win.

The two-legged final will mark the third encounter between Ahly and Esperance in the Champions League final, with the Egyptians winning in 2012 and the Tunisians triumphing in 2018.

In 2023, the two clubs clashed in the semi-finals with Ahly emerging victorious home and away, securing a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

Esperance who are aiming for a fifth Champions League title, will host the first leg in Rades on May 18, with the return fixture scheduled in Cairo seven days later.

Sports

Former Zambian captain Rainford Kalaba discharged from hospital after near-fatal accident

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Former Zambian national team captain, Rainford Kalaba, has been discharged from hospital weeks after he was involved in a near-fatal accident where he sustained serious injuries.

The accident which involved a head-on collision between a Mercedes-Benz car in which Kalaba was in, and a truck, had initially sparked fears for his life and has since been in the Intensive Care Unit of the Zambian University Teaching Hospital (UTH).

The good news on the footballer’s progress was released by the UTH Public Relations Officer, Nzeba Chanda, who informed that the Chipolopolo legend has been discharged after showing positive signs of recovery.

“Mr. Rainford Kalaba has been discharged from the UTH-Adult where he was admitted after being involved in a road traffic accident two weeks ago,” Chanda said, adding that Kalaba will continue his recovery at his family home.

According to local media reports, the 37-year-old was a passenger in a Mercedes Benz when it collided with an oncoming truck in the south-eastern Zambian town of Kafue a week and five days ago.

In his active playing days, Kalaba spent the majority of his club career at TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, winning the CAF Champions League with the club in 2015 and the CAF Confederation Cup in 2016.

He also had a spell with clubsides in Portugal including FC Braga, and was a major part of the Zambian squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 under Frenchman, Herve Renard.