Infantino faces fresh governance pressure over FIFA handling of Eto’o complaints

FIFA is facing renewed questions over the independence and transparency of its ethics process after former Cameroon football officials alleged that €567,570 in match fees was directed to a personal bank account belonging to Fecafoot president Samuel Eto’o.The payments relate to Cameroon’s October 2023 friendly against Russia in Moscow, with documents said to include instructions for two transfers worth €455,056 and €112,514 to Eto’o’s account at Qatar National Bank in Doha.Former Fecafoot executive Guibai Gatama said: “To my knowledge, there is no accounting or banking evidence demonstrating that the funds transferred to Samuel Eto’o’s personal account in Qatar were subsequently transferred to an official Fecafoot account or recorded in its accounting records.“Neither Fecafoot nor Samuel Eto’o has denied the existence or authenticity of these transactions, as the documents are damning.”The documents do not establish that Eto’o personally retained or misappropriated the funds, and complete banking records and Fecafoot accounts have not been made public.Earlier reporting in Cameroon had already raised questions over the €455,056 payment. Eto’o was reported to have denied enriching himself and attributed the payment arrangement to technical difficulties in processing the transaction.The latest scrutiny centres on claims from former Fecafoot officials that formal complaints were submitted to FIFA’s ethics committee more than a year ago without any visible investigation.Gatama said: “Cameroonian football stakeholders interpret FIFA’s silence as political and institutional support for Samuel Eto’o.“When accusations as serious and documented as these result in no visible investigation, while the official concerned continues to be publicly promoted by FIFA, it becomes legitimate to speak of protection.”Former Fecafoot vice-president Henry Njalla Quan Junior also filed a complaint in 2024 alleging match-fixing and abuse of power by Eto’o. Eto’o was later cleared of match manipulation by CAF because of insufficient evidence.Njalla Quan said: “Mr Eto’o has publicly expressed strong support for Mr Infantino, including arguing that African football has benefited from his leadership.“It would therefore be reasonable to ask: is there an element of political reciprocity arising from the support he himself has received from FIFA and Mr Infantino during difficult periods?”The allegations carry additional significance because Eto’o has emerged as a prominent supporter of Infantino at a time when the FIFA president is already under wider governance pressure.Eto’o has publicly backed FIFA Forward Enterprise, the abandoned plan to bring external capital into FIFA’s commercial operations, arguing that the project could have increased distributions and strengthened African football’s competitive position.His support was later cited by FIFA in legal filings defending the FFE project, placing the Cameroon federation president within a politically significant group backing Infantino’s strategy.FIFA rejected suggestions that Infantino could influence the ethics process.A FIFA spokesperson said: “The FIFA president has no influence over FIFA’s judicial bodies, which are independent. FIFA welcomes legitimate scrutiny. But scrutiny is not a licence to amplify unsubstantiated allegations in relation to the FIFA president.”Eto’o has faced several disciplinary and legal controversies during his tenure at Fecafoot, which began in December 2021.He received a suspended prison sentence and fine in Spain in 2022 after pleading guilty to tax fraud linked to image rights, while a CAF disciplinary panel fined him US$200,000 in 2024 over a betting-company ambassadorial agreement. That CAF ruling was later overturned on jurisdictional grounds.FIFA also banned Eto’o from attending Cameroon national-team matches in September 2024 following misconduct towards match officials at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup.The central issue for FIFA is now less the underlying payment allegation than whether its independent judicial structures have properly examined complaints involving a politically influential federation president.With Infantino seeking to defend FIFA’s governance record while pursuing another term, the absence of a publicly visible resolution to the Eto’o complaints risks reinforcing wider concerns over how the governing body handles cases involving senior allies.