CHAN 2020: the Douala Union mirror of a local Cameroonian football in disuse
The players of the Douala Sports Union pray before their training session.
© Ndiassé SAMBE / RFI
Text by: Ndiasse Sambe Follow
6 min
The grandeur and decline of the Douala Sports Union, winner of the Champion Clubs 'Cup (1979) and the Cup Winners' Cup (1981), are a good illustration of the state of local Cameroonian football today when the 2020 CHAN party is in full swing.
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From our special correspondent in Douala,
It is in the premises of the Bependa reception center for minors, in the populous district of the same name, that the Douala Sports Union trains.
On a sandy lawn, invaded in some places by wild grass, trainer Richard Towa has his charges rehearse his scales.
There are no changing rooms.
No showers.
The players arrive in training gear and leave as they came, sweat and fatigue on top of that.
We are far from the prosperous years of the Doualais club, five times champion of Cameroon, winner of the former Champions League (1979) and the Cup (1981).
A formation that has seen Indomitable Lions like Joseph Antoine Bell, Timothée Atouba or Raymond Kalla.
Today, the club founded in 1955, is certainly a resident of Elite One (Cameroonian first division), won a league title in 2012, but runs behind a past which was glorious.
“
Last season, we narrowly escaped.
Today, we have to be realistic!
We can no longer attract the best players from Cameroon
, lucidly analyzes Richard Towa.
Me, I accepted this challenge to build with young people.
We are obliged to work on a project, to structure it, to have a good base
”.
Crisis at the top
In training that morning, under a blazing sun, more than fifteen players, barely out of adolescence make up the workforce.
The session begins with a prayer.
The assistant coach debriefs the players on the last friendly match with full details and remarks.
As if to prepare for the next league game.
Except that there hasn't been one for 8 months.
The Covid crisis caused the Cameroonian football championship to be stopped last May.
But it is the crisis at the top of Cameroonian football that is blocking the resumption of competition today.
The conflict between the Cameroonian Football Federation and the Football League has been going on for a long time.
Since the first instance decided to entrust the prerogatives of the second to a transitional technical committee.
A battle ensued that landed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which ended up proving the League right.
The situation has not changed since, however.
"
We have irresponsible leaders,
cowardly Joseph Antoine Bell
,
former goalkeeper of Union Douala with whom he lifted the Champions Clubs Cup in 1979.
We cannot even say that we have abandoned football, since nothing was taken care of.
We have leaders who are unable to understand their role.
All over the world, we fought to play football again, and here nothing.
In truth with this situation, the Federation proves that it is useless
.
"
The players of the Douala Sports Union warming up on their training ground.
© Ndiassé SAMBE / RFI
"
We survive ...
"
In the meantime, teams like Union Douala are training without knowing when they will be able to compete in the championship.
“
This stoppage of the championship is not easy to manage,
believes player Donald Bitjeck
.
When you're a footballer and you can't make a living from your job, it's complicated.
Psychologically, you have to be strong.
Me, I tell myself it's as if I came back from a long injury and that I have to find my feelings.
This is how I manage to keep mentally
.
"
The situation is also financially difficult for players who earn very little in the Cameroonian championship.
"
With the Covid crisis, the wage bill has fallen,
admits the captain of the USD, Djaleu Franck
.
But it's okay, we survive,
”adds the one who had been able to find a Czech club in the third division before a story of agents ruined everything.
Playing Union was a dream for Franck, born in Douala.
“
Today, it's not the same thing
, laments Jean Fernand, former manager of the club who became sports director.
We rely a lot on young people, we place a lot of hope on them, but we must recognize that for them the Union is seen as a springboard.
Everyone wants to travel at all costs.
Today, a young person makes a good match and all the entourage begins to hope for a foreign club, to leave to ruin itself to make travel of the kids who find themselves destitute once left
”.
Today, hope is the thing best shared at the Douala Sports Union and undoubtedly in the overwhelming majority of Cameroonian football clubs.
All hope that the enthusiasm generated by the CHAN 2020 will allow the sports authorities to finally launch the championship.
“
Young people want just that: play
!
Pleads coach Richard Towa.
CHAN 2020 in Cameroon: schedule and match results
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