Samuel Eto’o Wins Appeal, Confirms Candidacy For CAF Elections

Four-time African Footballer of the Year, Samuel Eto’o, will be included in the Confederation of African Football’s elective congress next week.

This comes after an initial ruling that had excluded him from the contest was reversed.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has upheld an appeal by Eto’o against his exclusion from the CAF executive committee elections in Cairo next Wednesday.

The CAF governance committee initially excluded Samuel Eto’o, president of the Cameroon Football Federation, in January.

However, Eto’o appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which ruled in his favor, reversing the exclusion.

“Following a hearing on March 3rd 2025, it is ordered that the CAF executive committee includes Eto’o in the list of candidates for election to the committee,” said a CAS statement.

“The CAS Panel considered that it was presented sufficient information to overturn the CAF Executive Committee’s decision concerning Eto’o’s ineligibility.

“It will be for the CAF Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting on March 12th to make its own evaluation of the candidates.”

No grounds were given when CAF excluded Eto’o in January, but the 43-year-old former Cameroon striker was suspended last year by world governing body FIFA and CAF.

Samuel Eto’o was banned by FIFA from attending national team matches for six months in September.

The ban resulted from violations of disciplinary regulations, stemming from alleged verbal abuse of match officials at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.

Earlier in the year, CAF banned Eto’o after an inquiry into purported breaches of its ethical and integrity standards when he took up a role as ambassador for a betting company.

The ban and a $200,000 fine were later lifted on appeal.

The fiery Eto’o might be one of Africa’s finest ever players but he has proven a divisive figure in the administration of the game, both in his own country and in the international arena.

CAF will hold elections for its top posts next week, including the president of the organization and the continent’s representatives on the FIFA Council.

The deadline for candidate submissions was in November, but with the election less than a week away, the African football governing body has yet to release the list of candidates.

However, CAF president Patrice Motsepe is standing unopposed for a second four-year term.