Club Presidents have threatened to boycott the start of the 2009-2010 Elite One championship if the annual subvention given them by the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT is not increased. This is resolution was arrived at during a preparatory meeting held by the Association of Elite One Club Presidents over the weekend in Douala.
The presidents, want the subvention to be increased from F.CFA 8 Million to F.CFA 20 Million per team, which according to them would help sustain them financially during the football season. According to these Presidents, their clubs are not benefitting enormously from the partnership between FECAFOOT and a leading Mobile Telecommunications Company sponsoring the Elite One. The presidents therefore proposed to be on the negotiation table with this Company alongside FECAFOOT so as to avoid what they call dubious intentions from the latter.
Speaking at the meeting, the President of the Association, Faustin Domkeu, said they are poised to see FECAFOOT meet up to their demands by going negotiating on concrete terms in order not to fall prey to what he terms the GTV scenario which occurred last season. He equally pointed out the fact that this would go a long way to ameliorate the living standards of some players who at times go for months without salaries or match bonuses.
However, this is not the first time club presidents have threatened to boycott the start of the elite football season because their financial demands have not be met but have most often ended up yielding to FECAFOOT’s pleas. Equally, club presidents have also been given a standard to follow inorder to fortify their goal of professionalising football in Cameroon. Firstly, each club President has been asked to contractualise the signing of their players, hence a fixed monthly salary for them. Furthermore, each club is expected to purchase a reanimation equipment which would reanimate players when their physical condition on the pitch is deteriorating. This is to avoid the case of players collapsing on the pitch as has been rampant during the past seasons.
