Cameroon World Cup Squad Settles Dispute over Bonuses with Football Federation; Ends Strike
Opeyemi Oladunjoye
Cameroon’s World Cup squad has finally settled the dispute about unpaid bonuses with the country’s football federation after refusing to travel to Brazil.
The players had gone on strike on Sunday and refused to leave their hotel in Yaounde for a flight to Rio de Janeiro, where they were expected to land on sunday night.
The Indomitable Lions have refused to play in the past over rows with the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) on appearance payments for the players.
On Saturday, the World Cup warm-up match against Moldova went ahead, but the players boycotted the traditional handing over of the national flag to the team captain following the game. Prime Minister Philemon Yang was forced to give it to their German coach Volker Finke instead.
FECAFOOT said it had settled the dispute with the Cameroon government and the players will receive 5.8m CFA francs (£7,200) on top of the 50m CFA francs (£62,000) originally offered to take part in the World Cup tournament.
Spokesman Laurence Fotso said: “Everything is ok now. We will embark tonight. That money is given (by FIFA) three months after the end of the competition. (FECAFOOT) borrowed money as a private loan to satisfy the players.”
Finke said: “There has been an agreement now and there is no need to make a big sensation out of it or make huge stories out of it.”
The squad will arrive in Brazil on Monday morning – just four days before their opening game against Mexico. Cameroon had similar disagreements with the football federation before the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
