Samuel Eto'o, president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), is facing allegations of embezzling more than 567,000 euros ($665,000). The claims were published by The Times newspaper in London and brought forward by former FECAFOOT executives.

According to the report, the 45-year-old former Chelsea and Barcelona striker redirected appearance fees meant for the federation into his personal bank account. The alleged embezzlement relates to payments by Russia for a friendly international against Cameroon in 2023. Files seen by The Times reportedly show that two payments were requested to be paid into an account held by Eto'o with the Qatar National Bank in Doha, Qatar.

Eto'o denies all allegations. He is also a serving member of the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Al Jazeera contacted both FECAFOOT and CAF for comment but received no reply. FIFA has also been approached.

The former FECAFOOT executives allege they were forced out of the federation under Eto'o. They told The Times that they submitted complaints to FIFA's ethics committee more than a year ago but have received no substantive update on the investigations.

These allegations are the latest in a series of controversies surrounding Eto'o. In January, CAF suspended him for four national team games for alleged misbehaviour during Cameroon's loss to Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations. FECAFOOT said at the time that the suspension lacked 'any explicit justification'. Eto'o was also banned from attending national team matches for six months after violating FIFA disciplinary regulations during the 2020 Under-20 Women's World Cup. In 2022, he was filmed attacking a man following a heated exchange outside a stadium during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and later apologised.

Source: www.aljazeera.com