Cameroon’s World Cup football team remain stranded in Paris, an official in the remote Japanese village serving as their training camp said Tuesday.
The Olympic and African champions, grouped with Germany, Saudi Arabia and Ireland, had been originally scheduled to arrive on Sunday in Nakatsue village, deep in the mountains on the southern island of Kyushu.
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The official said villagers were told that Cameroon’s chartered plane would leave Paris later Tuesday and would arrive in Japan on Wednesday via India.
« The latest we heard from them was that they will leave Paris on Tuesday Paris time, » said a village official coordinating logistics for the Cameroon training camp.
« But we cannot really say anything for sure until their plane actually takes off, » he said.
The team visited Copenhagen on Friday to play against the Danish national team before heading to Paris the following day.
The squad was supposed to leave for Japan on the same day, but mechanical trouble with its chartered plane left them stranded in France, the Nakatsue official said.
« We really don’t know what to do. We hope they will come soon, » he said.
Nakatsue, whose 1,400 villagers rely on the lumber industry on the outskirts of a smouldering volcano, has spent some 100 million yendollars) to improve lodging and football facilities for camp training by Cameroon.
Because of the delay, Nakatsue villagers had to cancel several events, including a welcome ceremony and a practice match with local high school students.
Cameroon were still willing to play a training match against regional J-League side Sagan Tosu on Friday, Jiji Press agency said quoting a member of the team. The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday night.
Cameroon are to play England in a friendly in Kobe on Sunday.
