Why is football the focus while Cameroon faces institutional crisis?

According to Jean Rodrigue Atemengue, in a nation where a long-awaited government reshuffle has been stalled for months, the public discourse should not be held hostage by a sport.

The following is an analysis of the current state of national priorities:

Citizens of Cameroun,

Our national team, the Lions Indomptables, failed to secure a spot in the upcoming World Cup. They will not be representing our colors on the global stage. Yet, here we are, once again consumed by petty disputes over football, administrative scandals within the federation, and debates about a tournament we aren’t even part of. Meanwhile, the country continues to bleed from very real, unaddressed wounds.

A necessary question: Are our priorities in order?

There is something deeply unsettling about our current situation. Even football, which for decades served as a unifying force and a convenient distraction from national struggles, is now in total disarray. The very tool used for diversion is broken.

The football of Cameroun, once the pride of the continent and a symbol of our ability to compete with the elite, has become a mere shadow of its former self. We see contested management, personal vendettas, recurring scandals, and a federation perpetually mired in controversy. Our infrastructure is failing, and young athletes are frequently left to fend for themselves. This failure to qualify is not an accident; it is a symptom of a much larger decay.

We are not going to the World Cup. Yet, some still try to make this sport the center of our lives as if nothing has changed. It is a striking paradox: the public is expected to remain obsessed with a sport that many now view as being in a state of terminal decline.

This is not an attack on the game itself. Football remains a legitimate passion and a source of national pride that transcends political and ethnic lines. Samuel Eto’o is a figure rightly admired for his legendary career. However, football cannot be allowed to become a screen that hides the critical issues facing our nation.

What should we really be discussing?

In a country where a cabinet reshuffle has been anticipated for months without any action, the public debate should not be dominated by a ball. When Parliament is called for an extraordinary session to revise the Constitution and create a Vice-Presidency, only for that position to remain empty months later, the health of our institutions must be the priority.

We must ask why there hasn’t been a Council of Ministers or a meeting of the Superior Council of the Magistracy in years. We must question the institutional normalcy of a country where ministers resign and are replaced by temporary officials for extended periods, or where high-ranking public servants pass away and their seats remain vacant.

When a magistrate issues an arrest warrant while police are simultaneously instructed to ignore it, the rule of law is in jeopardy. When a judge’s order for provisional release is publicly denounced as a forgery, the very credibility of our justice system is at stake. These are the issues that should mobilize us, far more than any FIFA ranking.

Furthermore, while our roads crumble, public projects remain unfinished despite being paid for, and access to clean water and electricity remains a luxury for many, how can football be our primary topic of conversation? With graduates facing chronic unemployment and families struggling under the weight of the high cost of living, our focus must shift.

Who benefits from this distraction?

Every time the national conversation is funneled into a football controversy, vital institutional, economic, and social concerns are pushed into the background. The problems persist, but they lose the visibility required for resolution.

Intellectuals, journalists, and community leaders have a duty here. To let sports scandals dominate the public square while the country faces deep institutional questions is to choose noise over substance and spectacle over serious debate.

This is not about giving up on football; it is about establishing a hierarchy of needs. Once our institutions are functional, our justice system is trustworthy, our roads are safe, and our youth have jobs, then we can talk about football as much as we like.

But today, making football the main event is a way of turning a blind eye to urgent crises. To continue debating a sport that is itself in crisis as if it were our greatest achievement is to ignore the double reality of a declining game and a struggling nation.

To the people of Cameroun,

We deserve a public debate that matches the scale of our challenges. We deserve institutions that inspire confidence, a judicial system with integrity, and responsible governance. History will remember those who had the courage to ask the difficult questions about our future, not those who spent their time debating a tournament we aren’t even attending.