Cameroon’s football landscape was rocked by turmoil on Tuesday as a meeting between football federation president Samuel Eto’o and the country’s newly appointed Belgian coach Marc Brys erupted into a heated confrontation.

The encounter marked the first face-to-face interaction between Eto’o and Brys since the latter’s appointment by the country’s sports ministry in early April, a decision made without consultation with the Cameroon Football Federation, sparking a contentious standoff.

Brys was invited for a “working session” by Eto’o as Cameroon readies for World Cup qualifiers next month. However, tensions flared when several of Brys’s support staff, also appointed by the sports ministry, were denied entry to the FECAFOOT federation building in Yaounde.

Videos captured by reporters and circulated on social media depicted Eto’o welcoming Brys, but the atmosphere quickly soured. Eto’o forcefully ejected a ministry official seeking entry to the meeting before engaging in a fiery exchange with Brys, who promptly departed.

A statement from FECAFOOT is anticipated later, as the federation had initially expressed openness to collaborating with Brys despite criticizing his appointment as a unilateral decision by sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombito.

While football federations typically appoint and finance their coaches, in some African countries, such as Cameroon, government involvement is common, particularly when federations face financial constraints.

Former African Footballer of the Year Eto’o, renowned for his illustrious playing career in Europe, seeks to assert some autonomy but must navigate cautiously in a nation where football affairs hold significant governmental importance.

Cameroon is slated to face the Cape Verde Islands in Yaounde on June 8 and Angola away three days later in their latest qualifying matches for the 2026 finals in North America.

The team secured a home victory against Mauritius and drew with Libya in their opening two Group D qualifiers last November under Rigobert Song, whose contract was not renewed following Cameroon’s elimination in the last-16 at January’s Africa Cup of Nations finals.

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