BARCELONA icon Samuel Eto’o has been banned from attending Cameroon national team matches for six months.
The former Chelsea and Everton forward has been sanctioned by Fifa for breaching two articles of Fifa’s Disciplinary Code.
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Eto’o, who retired in 2019 after a spell playing in Qatar, now acts as the President of the Cameroonian Football Association.
But despite the prestigious role, the 43-year-old will not be able to attend any men’s or women’s Cameroon fixtures across all age groups for the next six months.
It comes after he was found to have breached rules pertaining to “offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play” and “misconducts of players of officials”.
The breaches are said to have taken place during a last 16 clash between Brazil and Cameroon at the Women’s U20 Fifa World Cup.
Fifa’s statement for the ban revealed no details of the incidents.
The ban comes just under three months after Eto’o was slapped with a £150,000 fine by the African Football Confederation (CAF) for “seriously violating the principles of ethics, integrity and sportsmanship”.
That was in relation to signing a deal to be an ambassador for betting company 1XBET while holding his position with the Cameroonian FA.
The retired striker has since appealed that decision and denied all wrongdoing.
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Back in 2021, Eto’o was given a 22-month suspended prison sentence for pleading guilty to tax fraud.
While he was also handed a £1.4m fine at the same time.
Controversy followed the three-time Champions League winner in 2022, when he issued an apology after a video appeared to show him kneeing a man in the face in Qatar during the World Cup.
Eto’o’s playing career saw him make 118 appearances for the Cameroonian national side, bagging 56 goals and winning the Africa Cup of Nations twice.
While he won three Champions Leagues, three Spanish titles and one Italian league title in a club career that saw him play for Barcelona, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid amongst others.
