Samuel Eto’o, four-time African Footballer of the Year, has secured his place as a candidate for the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) elective congress next week, after initially being excluded from the race.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld Eto’o’s appeal against his exclusion from the CAF executive committee elections, which are set to take place in Cairo on Wednesday.
Eto’o, who also serves as the president of the Cameroon Football Federation, was initially excluded by CAF’s governance committee in January.
However, he appealed the decision to CAS, which ruled in his favour, allowing him to participate in the upcoming elections.
“Following a hearing on 3 March 2025, it is ordered that the CAF executive committee includes Eto’o in the list of candidates for election to the committee,” said a CAS statement.
“The CAS Panel considered that it was presented sufficient information to overturn the CAF Executive Committee’s decision concerning Eto’o’s ineligibility.
“It will be for the CAF Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting on 12 March to make its own evaluation of the candidates.”
Background of Samuel Eto’o’s Suspension by FIFA and CAF
CAF did not provide specific grounds for excluding Samuel Eto’o in January, but the 43-year-old had been suspended last year by both FIFA and CAF.
In September, FIFA imposed a six-month ban on Eto’o, preventing him from attending national team matches due to disciplinary violations after he allegedly verbally abused match officials at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
Earlier in the year, CAF banned Eto’o following an investigation into possible breaches of its ethical and integrity standards after he accepted a role as an ambassador for a betting company.
The ban, along with a $200,000 fine, was later lifted on appeal.
Although Eto’o is widely regarded as one of Africa’s greatest footballers, his involvement in the administration of the game has been controversial, both in his home country and on the international stage.
CAF Set To Hold Elections
CAF is set to hold elections next week for key positions, including the president of the organisation and the continent’s representatives on the FIFA Council.
The deadline for candidate submissions was in November, but African football’s governing body has yet to release a list of nominees with less than a week to go before the elections.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe is running unopposed for a second four-year term.
