Eto’o is under investigation for match-fixing in Cameroon Sports

Former footballer Samuel Eto’o is being investigated for match-fixing in his native Cameroon. The British newspaper The Guardian reported on the investigations surrounding former Barcelona, ​​Inter Milan, Chelsea and Everton players. Eto’o is now 42 years old and has been president of the Cameroon Football Federation since 2021. He denies the accusations.

According to The Guardian, the main evidence surrounding Eto’o’s alleged crimes appears in phone recordings between him and the president of the Cameroonian club called Victoria United. In an excerpt of the conversations, the former athlete promised to promote the team to the local first division, which eventually happened, and also promised to suspend the judge.

“There are things we can do, but you have to be very conservative, brother,” Eto’o was quoted as saying in one of the recordings. “Don’t worry, we’ll give you three points and suspend the judge, Opobo [apelido do Victoria United] He needs to move up to the first division. It’s our goal. It is our union. Victoria United will rise.”

The international press says that the investigation conducted by the Cameroonian authorities includes more than 40 people from the Cameroonian Football Federation. The crimes investigated relate to “abuse of power and corruption.”

Samuel Eto’o is considered one of the greatest African players of all time. He holds the record as the most successful African Footballer of the Year winner – with four wins: 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010. He was just 16 years old when he signed for Real Madrid in 1996. He was eventually loaned out. He was sold until he ended up in Barcelona in 2004. In his five seasons with the Catalan team, he scored 130 goals and won several titles.

Eto’o won the Spanish League three times and the Champions League twice (2006 and 2009). In 2005, he was chosen as the third best player in the world. He was also the Italian and European champion with Inter Milan, won the African Cup of Nations twice with Cameroon, participated in two World Cups, and won the Olympic gold medal in 2000.