By Brian Mboh
Prime Minister Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute has urged the President of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) to make the new headquarters a space for constructive dialogue and victory for the promotion of football in Cameroon.
The personal representative of the Head of State, Chief Dr. Dion Ngute, made the declaration on Wednesday, May 13, in Yaoundé while inaugurating the newly constructed headquarters of the Cameroon Football Federation in Warda.
Speaking during the ceremony, Chief Dr. Dion Ngute, said the building is a vision for Cameroonian football, which is called to be more structured and tend towards excellence.
The occupant of the star building, PM Dion Ngute, recalled that the government, under the initiative of President Paul Biya, has set up infrastructures for football to thrive. He cited stadiums constructed across the country, as well as the Confederation of African Football Centre of Excellence in Mbankomo.
The Prime Minister said President Paul Biya intends to continue investing in sports infrastructure during his current mandate to give sportsmen and women the opportunity to excel and ensure that every sports federation has opportunities.
While recognising the contributions sports makes to nation-building and national unity, he congratulated the President of Fecafoot, Samuel Eto’o Fils, and expressed hope that the new building will help inculcate rigor and professionalism in the management of football in Cameroon.
Situated in the heart of the Warda neighborhood, the new Fecafoot headquarters is a five-floor building with sixty offices and a conference room with a seating capacity of one hundred and fifty. It has a surface area of more than five thousand square metres; the building occupies three thousand and five hundred square metres, with three main access points.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, speaking via a video message, saluted the courage of the Fecafoot President, Samuel Eto’o Fils, and expressed hope that the structure will boost football in Cameroon.
The flamboyant event brought together CAF President, Dr. Patrice Motsepe; former CAF President Ahmad Ahmad; former African footballers such as Jay-Jay Okocha, El-Hadj Diouf, Rigobert Song, Achille Emana, Jean II Makoun, Alexandre Song, Stéphane Mbia, and Raymond Kalla; members of the diplomatic corps; NGOs; as well as partners and other stakeholders.
CAF President, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, said the building provides another opportunity for football in Cameroon to grow. Also present were a cross-section of government bench members and officials of the Civil Cabinet.
The President of Fecafoot, Samuel Eto’o Fils, paid homage to former FA President Iya Mohamed, who is behind bars and initiated the project, and thanked members of government, as well as the entire football family, for contributing to its completion.
