Cameroon FA president Samuel Eto’o has apologized for physically assaulting a journalist in a video circulating on social media.
Former Cameroon and Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o has apologized for what he described as a “violent altercation” at the World Cup in Qatar on Monday night.
The video showed the 41-year-old kneeing a man in the head outside Stadium 974 in Doha.
In a statement, the four times African footballer of the year said that he was provoked by a fan who was “probably” an Algeria supporter as part of an ongoing campaign of harassment following Cameroon’s qualifying win over Algeria in March.
“After the Brazil-South Korea match, I had a violent altercation with a person who was probably an Algerian supporter,” Eto’o wrote on his social media channels.
“I would like to apologize for losing my temper and reacting in a way that does not match my personality. I apologize to the public for this unfortunate incident,” he said.
The video initially appears to show Eto’o happy to pose for pictures with fans in the area outside the stadium, which staged the last-16 match between Brazil and South Korea on Monday.
However, he then seems to react to something and is initially restrained from attacking a man by those around him.
He breaks away from those individuals and appears to strike the man in the head with his knee.
Algeria filed a complaint over the performance of the referee in the qualifying play-off in Blida, in which Cameroon’s Karl Toko Ekambi scored the winner with the last kick of the match.
Eto’o added: “I pledge to continue to resist the relentless provocation and daily harassment of some Algerian supporters.
“Indeed, since the Cameroon-Algeria match on 28 March in Blida, I have been the target of insults and allegations of cheating without any evidence.”
However, the victim of the alleged assault has posted on his Youtube page that, he was abused drastically by the Cameroun FA President and has made a report to the police.
“I have reported the incident to the police. He also smashed the camera that I was filming him with.
“I was filming him with my camera. I asked him about Gassama (Bakary Gassama the referee of the match between Cameroon and Algeria in World Cup qualification)…he got agitated and attacked me.
“He smashed my camera. He also destroyed my mic. I was then attacked by the person who accompanied him,” the journalist comments.
Eto’o has been a global ambassador for Qatar’s World Cup organizing committee since 2019.
Eto’o, who retired from football in 2019, scored 56 goals in 118 caps for Cameroon and represented his country at four World Cups between 1998 and 2014.
Hot 93.9 FM cited a tweet by Samuel Etoo rendering a sincere apology and excuses for the alleged incident.
Watch the Excerpt of the video here:
