Former Cameroon striker and current FA chairman Samuel Eto’o is facing renewed scrutiny over about $665,000 (€567,570) in payments linked to Cameroon’s 2023 friendly against Russia, after documents reportedly reviewed by The Times indicated that the money was to be paid into an account in his name in Qatar.
The payments, comprising €455,056 and €112,514, were connected to Cameroon’s friendly against Russia in Moscow in October 2023.
Eto’o has served as president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) since December 2021 and is also a member of the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
According to The Times, the documents included contracts and invoices directing the two payments to an account belonging to Eto’o at Qatar National Bank in Doha.
Former Fecafoot executive Guibai Gatama told The Times that he was unaware of accounting or banking evidence showing that the funds were subsequently transferred to an official Fecafoot account or recorded in the federation’s books.
Recurring Allegation
Cameroonian media reported similar allegations in June 2025, including a claim that €455,056 had been paid into an account belonging to Eto’o in Qatar.
Eto’o reportedly denied enriching himself from the transaction at the time, explaining that the payment arrangement was linked to technical difficulties affecting the processing of the funds.
What is new in the latest reporting is the identification of a second payment instruction worth €112,514, bringing the two payments to a combined €567,570, as well as The Times’ reported examination of the underlying contracts and invoices.
FIFA Ethics Complaint
Former Fecafoot officials have also said that complaints concerning the matter were submitted to FIFA’s ethics committee more than a year ago, although they have not been informed of any outcome.
FIFA has maintained that its president, Gianni Infantino, has no influence over the organisation’s independent judicial bodies.
The organisation has also said its ethics committee is not required to provide complainants with regular updates and determines on a case-by-case basis whether the outcome of an investigation should be made public.
Questions surrounding FIFA’s handling of the complaint have gained additional attention because of Eto’o’s publicly stated close relationship with Infantino and his support for the FIFA president during a dispute involving a proposed commercial company and private investors.
