Cameroon Football Federation president Samuel Eto'o has claimed that European football associations cannot fully understand the challenges faced by their African counterparts.
As reported by İdman.Biz, citing RMC Sport, the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker highlighted the major financial disparities between football federations around the world.
"We will never see things the same way as Europeans. When you look at some federations with a budget of €150,000, how can they compete with the big countries?
"No one asks how the presidents of some African federations manage football in their countries. When there is a talent drain, we are blamed. But if Cameroon had the possibility of relying on an annual budget of $20 million or $40 million, of course we would have our own Mbappés and Tchouaménis. We would organise our football better," Eto'o said.
His comments come amid a broader debate over financial inequality and the distribution of commercial revenues in international football.
At the end of July, it emerged that FIFA was considering creating a new commercial structure called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to handle the sale of broadcasting and commercial rights for the World Cup.
However, FIFA president Gianni Infantino subsequently abandoned the idea following criticism from football confederations and reports that UEFA member associations could threaten to boycott the World Cup.
The controversy also had political consequences within world football. Some European football federations reportedly withdrew their support for Infantino ahead of the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March 2027.
Eto'o, who has served as president of the Cameroon Football Federation since 2021, has repeatedly called attention to the need to strengthen African football and create better conditions for developing the continent's young talent.
