Eto’o is successful in his petition to run in the CAF elections

After initially being disqualified from the race, four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o has gained the right to be added to the list of candidates for the Confederation of African Football’s electoral congress next week.

Eto’o’s appeal against being excluded from the CAF executive committee elections in Cairo next Wednesday has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

After being kicked out by CAF’s governance committee in January, Eto’o, the president of the Cameroon Football Federation, took his case to the highest court in sports, the CAS, which decided in his favor.

“It is mandated that the CAF executive committee add Eto’o to the list of candidates for election to the committee following a hearing on March 3, 2025,” a CAS statement said.

The CAS Panel believed it had enough material to reverse the CAF Executive Committee’s ruling that Eto’o was ineligible.

“An independent assessment of the candidates will be conducted at the CAF Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting on March 12th.”

Eto’o, a 43-year-old former Cameroon striker, was suspended by both CAF and FIFA, the world soccer governing bodies, last year, but no explanation was offered when CAF excluded him in January.

After he was accused of verbally insulting match officials during the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia in September, FIFA banned him from all national team games for six months for breaking disciplinary rules.

After an investigation into alleged violations of its ethical and integrity rules when Eto’o accepted a position as an ambassador for a betting company earlier in the year, CAF suspended him.

On appeal, the prohibition and a $200,000 punishment were later revoked.

Despite being one of Africa’s best players ever, the fiery Eto’o has caused division in the game’s management both domestically and internationally.

Elections for CAF’s top positions, including the organization’s president and the continent’s FIFA Council representatives, are scheduled for next week.

With the election less than a week away, the governing body of African football has yet to release a list of the candidates, despite the fact that the deadline for submissions was in November.

But Patrice Motsepe, the president of CAF, is uncontested to serve a second four-year term.