Andre Onana Called Up for AFCON by Sacked Manager Who Is Refusing to Leave Job
Andre Onana has received a call up to Cameroon's AFCON squad, despite the fact that the manager who selected him was sacked last week.
In less than two weeks, the the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will kick off as the continent's best footballers compete in Morocco.
Several Premier League stars will play in the competition, including Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Manchester City's Omar Marmoush and Manchester United pair Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo.
While playing at the AFCON, Mbeumo and Diallo will be handed the chance to reunited with former teammate Onana, who has been called up to play alongside Mbeumo in the Cameroon national team.
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However, Onana's spot in the Cameroon squad is far from guaranteed as the manager hat has called him up is refusing to step down after being officially dismissed last week.
Last week, Belgian manager Marc Brys was sacked just three weeks before Cameroon's opening fixture against Gabon.
The decision was made by newly re-elected as Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) president and former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o, amid accusations of “subterfuge,” “professional failure,” and “inciting” players to defy the football federation.
Brys was replaced with one of his assistants, David Pagou, who announced on December 2 that Onana, currently on loan at Turkish side Trabzonspor, was not in the Cameroon squad.
However Brys is now insisting that he charge of the Cameroon team and has named Onana in his official squad while outlining his own preparatory programme for AFCON.
Although both squads include the likes of Mbeumo and Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, Pagou has dropped Onana in favour of local keeper Edouard Sombang of Colombe de Sangmelima, despite the fact that he has not played league football in the past six months.
With the official deadline to submit the squads for AFCON approaching on Thursday, December 11, it remains to be seen which squad will officially make it to Morocco.
According to a report from SunSport, the Cameroonian government and the football association are holding meetings to try and find an amicable solution to the situation as soon as possible.
Regardless, the discourse is reportedly causing concerns among the Cameroon players who fear that the chaos could impact their campaign in the tournament.
Topics: Africa Cup Of Nations, Andre Onana, Cameroon, Football, Premier League, Samuel Etoo, Man Utd
Ben McCrum