The Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) has authorized Nathan Doualla to participate in the country’s Elite League playoffs. However, Fecafoot has not disclosed how the international midfielder substantiated his identity amidst accusations of age manipulation.
The 17-year-old, who was a member of the Indomitable Lions squad at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, was among 62 players sanctioned by Fecafoot for dual identification.
This action was taken in response to allegations that he had previously competed in the Cameroonian league under the name Alexandre Bardelli, with records indicating he was over 21 years old.
A probe conducted by French newspaper Le Monde uncovered this inconsistency prior to the Nations Cup.
Although Doualla was still chosen for the tournament in Ivory Coast, Fecafoot suspended him until he could authenticate his identity.
However, ahead of the top-flight play-offs scheduled to commence on Friday, the federation published a list of 14 players, out of the 62 initially suspended, who were deemed eligible to participate. Among them were Doualla and his Victoria United teammate Nji Richmond. The federation did not disclose the methods by which these players substantiated their identities.
However, former international Bernard Tchoutang, a Nations Cup winner with Cameroon in 2000, used social media, external to announce that “Victoria United provided proof to Fecafoot showing that Bardelli is the deceased brother of Doualla, and the public should back off and allow Doualla to focus on the play-offs”.
Victoria United also defended its players, using its now deactivated Facebook account to say “Fecafoot confirms two of our players Wilfried Nathan Doualla and Nji Richmond don’t have double identity. Both players are eligible to play the play-offs”.
Both Doualla and Richmond have been linked with moves to Turkish club Antalyaspor but the Super Lig side has refused to be drawn into the controversy.
‘Tarnished image’
Doualla’s unexpected inclusion in Cameroon’s Nations Cup squad sparked widespread speculation regarding the player’s age, particularly when team photos were initially released.
According to tournament regulations, if fraud or forgery is detected, the national association in question may face suspension from the next two editions of the continental tournament. However, if the issue stems from an administrative error in player registration, the suspension is reduced to just one edition.
BBC Sport Africa has reached out to Fecafoot to clarify the irregularity and the process leading to its decision on the matter. However, as of now, there has been no response to any of these inquiries for information.
This incident is the most recent scandal to affect Cameroon football, following the revelation that 21 members of the Under-17 squad failed age tests in January of last year. These tests were ordered by Samuel Eto’o, the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker who is now the president of Fecafoot.
Previously, fourteen players were prevented from participating in the Under-17 Nations Cup in Gabon in 2017 due to failed age tests, while 44 players were subjected to hearings regarding identity fraud in 2022.
“It is sad to note that Fecafoot kept some grey spots in the whole story as they couldn’t tell us what justification documents were presented for a player with the same picture but two different player identities on Fifa’s Transfer Matching System (TMS),” said Philemon Mbale, a Cameroonian journalist who works for SportsNewsAfrica.
“The saga only goes to further dampen an already tarnished image of our football.
“We just move from bad to worse in the eyes of the international community. From poor results, to match fixing accusations, through the fact that the Indomitable Lions are without a new coaching staff after Rigobert Song.”
Cameroon’s men’s national team do not have any fixtures scheduled during the current international window and are yet to make an announcement on a new head coach after former Liverpool and West Ham defender Song was sacked last month.