Soccer great Samuel Eto'o has successfully overturned a move to block him from running for a position on the sport's governing body in Africa.
The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday it had found in Eto'o's favor after he appealed a decision by the Confederation of African Football to exclude him as a candidate to join its executive committee.
The 43-year-old former striker, who played for top clubs like Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea, has been president of the Cameroon soccer federation since 2021. He has courted controversy during that time.
In September, he was banned by FIFA from attending any national team games for six months after being judged to have breached disciplinary rules relating to “offensive behavior and violations of the principles of fair play” and misconduct of officials.
In July last year CAF fined the four-time African footballer of the year $200,000, saying he had “seriously violated the principles of ethics, integrity and sportsmanship” by becoming a brand ambassador for a betting organization. Eto'o's lawyers said in February the fine had been quashed on appeal.
The 54 member federations elect their leadership in Cairo next Wednesday when CAF president South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe is unopposed for a second four-year term. FIFA president Gianni Infantino is due to attend and Eto’o has now been handed a late reprieve by CAS to compete for a seat on the ruling executive committee.
“The CAS panel considered that it was presented sufficient information to overturn the CAF executive committee’s decision concerning Mr Eto’o’s ineligibility," CAS said in a statement. “It will be for the CAF extraordinary general assembly meeting on 12 March 2025 to make its own evaluation of the candidates.”
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
James Robson, The Associated Press
