Claim: News reports claim the President of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), Samuel Eto’o, has rejected Liverpool Defender Joel Matip’s request to rejoin Cameroon ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar
A Sports Journalist and the Chief Executive Officer of Lesley Angu of kick442.com, a Pan African Sports Website in Cameroon, has described such claims as fake news. Also, the Lead Trainer of Cameroon Senior Men’s National Football, Antono Conceicao, has said Joel Matip has no desire to play for the team during the 2022 World Cup.
Full Text
It was full of joy when the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, beat Algeria to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November in Qatar.
Just as in any other country, call-ups for players are done from various football clubs to play for their home country during international breaks and in this particular instance, to help their home countries win the World Cup. However, in the camp of Cameroon, there are claims by the Facebook page SoccerScenes Africa and Globe that the President of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), Samuel Eto’o, has strongly expressed his rejection of Cameroonian and Liverpool Defender Joel Matip to join the team.
According to the claim, Eto’o is quoted to have said, “This is a national team. We don’t tolerate people who think they are the special ones, who only want to be with us when they see honey and fruitfulness. We worked hard alone, and we have big respect for players who honour this nation in bad and in good times. I have been on the best teams in Europe, but I have never undermined playing for the Lions.
“I think Matip’s time is over; he must permanently stay in Liverpool. Those who started this job will finish it in Qatar. It doesn’t matter who they are, but they are going to Qatar to enjoy the fruits of qualifying. No one will eat their fruits of success, but them.”
The claim has received several reactions as reports from news sites including sportsration.com, zambianobserver.com, ghananewsupdates.com, and pulse.com among others have been published. Social media users on Twitter and YouTube have also joined the bandwagon.
It has amassed over 40,000 likes and received over 1,000 retweets on Twitter with over 500 comments, a chunk of it applauding Eto’o for such a decision.
Verification
Between 2010 and 2015, Joel Matip, a 31-year-old Cameroonian and a Liverpool Defender appeared in 27 games for the Indomitable Lions, scoring his only goal for the country in a 4-1 loss to Brazil in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Despite his brief international career, Matip represented Cameroon in two World Cups. However, he opted out of the 2010 and 2017 Africa Cup tournaments and any other tournament for Cameroon. His reason as captured by the Athletic, a sports website, was due to a bad experience with the previous technical staff.
However, in 2017 as reported by Glenn Price, a Liverpool Correspondent, Matip made it clear he had no intention of ending his self-imposed international exile.
An update is cited on kick442.com a major sports website in Cameroon as it reported that the Lead Trainer of Cameroon Senior Men’s National Football Antono Conceicao has said Joel Matip has no desire to play for the team during the 2022 World Cup.
DUBAWA further contacted Lesley Angu on WhatsApp for clarification on whether Samuel Eto’o made those comments. He is a Sports journalist and the Chief Executive Officer of kick442.com, a Pan African Sports Website in Cameroon. On WhatsApp, he labelled the claim as fake news.
DUBAWA further quizzed him on whether Joel Matip had made any intentions of coming back to play for Cameroon in the World Cup. In response, Mr. Angu said there has not been any move by the Liverpool defender.
Again, for a claim like that to be made and published, the author, at the very least, ought to have provided readers basic information about the occasion or the circumstances under which Samuel Eto’o made the comment. Was it during an interview, pre or post match comments? But when DUBAWA checked, there was nothing like that.
Looking at the content of the claim, it will be necessary that major international sports news sites like goal.com, ESPN.com, the guardian, and other credible sports sites in Cameroon such as Cfootmag.com and BraggsSports.com have taken up the story but DUBAWA found out none has reported such a story.
A thorough search on the official website for the Cameroon Football Association showed no evidence of the report as well.
Coincidentally, some of these websites, including Goal.com reported Eto’o’s criticisms of the Indomitable Lions after they posted a listless 1-0 victory over Burundi just around the same time the Matip claim went viral. Eto’o lashed out at them for lacking “character and pride.”
Conclusion
Viral reports that President of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), Samuel Eto’o, has rejected Liverpool’s Defender Joel Matip’s decision to join the Cameroon Squad for the 2022 World Cup lacks evidence for the assertion and is currently false and misleading. Joel Matip on the other hand has not made any comment on whether to rejoin Cameroon for the World Cup.
