Samuel Eto'o has responded to CAF's latest decision to reject his candidacy for one of their high-profile positions.
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It has been speculated in the media in recent months that the iconic striker aspired to become a member of CAF's executive committee.
The 43-year-old was elected president of the Cameroonian Football Federation in 2021 and, later this year, was hoping to continue his ascent within African football governance.
However, his aspirations have seemingly hit a major stumbling block. In January 2024, allegations surfaced that Eto'o was involved in match-fixing in the Cameroonian top flight.
While CAF stated that they did not have sufficient evidence to charge the former attacker in this regard, they found him guilty of violating the principles of ethics, integrity, and sportsmanship as provided in the CAF Statutes by becoming a global ambassador for 1XBet.
This could have cost him his chances of becoming an executive member of African football's governing body. According to AfrikFoot, the CAF Governance Committee, which met on 24 January, decided against retaining his candidacy for the position.
The decision has seemingly not gone down well with the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker, who said he is determined to remain in contention for the role.
"No one can prevent me from being a candidate for the Executive Committee because there are still several bodies that have to decide and as long as they have not yet decided, I am not convicted and I must be able to be a candidate," Eto'o said to RFI.
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"And I believe that I will not be convicted because we have enough evidence to prove our innocence."
