Just as Cameroon produces outstanding goalkeepers arguably more than any other nation in Africa, they are uniquely prone to controversy in that department as well: Manchester United’s first-choice Andre Onana is merely the latest of them.
The most infamous example happened in the 1980s and ’90s when the 20-year rivalry between goalkeepers Thomas N’Kono and Joseph-Antoine Bell reached new dimensions. The latter accused team manager Valery Nepomnyashchy of succumbing to “high Cameroonian domestic politics” after he was dropped on the eve of the 1990 World Cup for criticising the team. There were also rumours that Bell’s constant clamour for improved bonuses had irritated the Cameroonian Football Federation (FECAFOOT) and made the sports minister consider revoking his citizenship.
In 2013, experienced first-choice keeper Carlos Kameni was dropped from the national team for, according to then-Cameroon coach Volker Finke, being a disorderly influence in the dressing room.
So Onana’s eviction from the Indomitable Lions camp during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, following an unspecified difference of opinion with coach Rigobert Song, came as no surprise.
The player’s subsequent decision to retire, however, in the midst of arguably the best season of his career to that point, fuelled speculation as to the exact details of events in Qatar.
“The public is still divided over the Qatar issue mainly because the FA [football association] has never really explained what happened out there,” says Simon Lyonga, a sports journalist who works with CRTV, Cameroon’s government broadcaster.
“While some think it’s a witch-hunt against the player, many are of the opinion that his closeness to the FA president gave him a big head.”
Cameroon take on Guinea on Monday in the first match at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Onana will miss it, not because he is still in retirement, but because he opted to play a league game for his club on Sunday – and that has reignited controversy.
The 27-year-old’s return to the Cameroon fold came in September’s AFCON qualifier against Burundi after he reversed his decision due to the intervention of FECAFOOT president, Samuel Eto’o, from whose academy Onana joined Barcelona at age 14.
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