Samuel Eto’o sleeps with a security guard outside his front door, because he says Cameroon’s football officials are trying to “kill” him.
Eto’o, arguably Africa’s greatest footballer, has endured a long-running dispute with the Cameroonian Football Federation (FCF), and he claims that the FCF’s vendetta towards has literally taken on violent intentions.
The striker’s fear extends as far as his Russian residence, where he lives while he plays for ambitious nouveau rich club, Anzhi Makhachkala.
There he travels around with armed protectors, for fear of falling foul of his alleged Cameroonian foes.
"The leaders of the FCF want to attack my life, they want to kill me," Eto’o told Cameroonian magazine Je Wanda.
"I live with a group of gendarmes and one sleeping in front of my door. I do this not out of snobbery, but for my own safety.
"[The federation] have swindled our money long enough. Instead of managing football for the general interest, they are only concerned with fictitious missions, first class travels and untraceable bank accounts in Europe."
Eto’o is currently facing a fitness race to play in Anzhi’s Europa League match against Hannover on Thursday night. But if his accusation regarding the FCF is justified, the superstar has far more than football to worry about.
Do you think Eto’o is really a target for the FCF, or is he being paranoid?
