Indomitable Lions: Brys blasts poor training camp preparations ahead of World Cup qualifier
Cameroon’s national football head coach Marc Brys on Monday blasted the team’s training camp preparations ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde and Angola.
The Indomitable Lions were scheduled to begin training, but Brys said the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) had not provided the required equipment.
“We don’t have balls, we don’t have materials, we don’t have equipment. Do you think the training camp is going well? It’s not going well. It’s been like this for two days already. This is unheard of. I’ve been in this profession for 26 years, and I’ve never seen this,” Brys told local radio RIS in the capital, Yaounde.
“We must – for the public, the inhabitants, the 30 million Cameroonians – prove that even if there are people who want to disrupt us, we will fight for the country,” he added.
Cameroon has been embroiled in a football crisis since April after the country’s Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, appointed Belgium’s Brys as head coach, but his choice was initially rejected by FECAFOOT, which complained that it was not involved in the appointment procedure “in disregard of texts,” The association later confirmed Brys as the new head coach, but dismissed some members of the technical staff appointed by the minister, and appointed new ones to replace them.
On Sunday night, the technical staff appointed by the minister and those appointed by FECAFOOT stood side by side as they struggled to be the first to welcome players who were arriving at a hotel where they would be lodged.
FECAFOOT staff were later seen leaving the hotel after they were informed that reservations were made only for the staff appointed by the minister.
Early on Monday, the national team players were seen in assorted dress, taking a walk in the vicinity of the hotel in Yaounde.
“They were walking without uniformed attire. FECAFOOT has not yet given the players attire and other things needed for the team. Even the bus transporting the players to the training sessions is not here. It is a show of chaos and might affect team performance,” football analyst James Malu said.
Amid the crisis, the central African nation is preparing for two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde on June 8 and Angola on June 11.
Source: Xinhuanet