The President of the Cameroon Football Federation, Samuel
Eto’o, has apologised for physically assaulting a man at the World Cup on
Monday.
In a statement on his Twitter handle on Tuesday, Eto’o said
he was provoked by a fan who was “probably” an Algeria supporter as part of an
ongoing harassment following Cameroon’s qualifying win over Algeria in March.
Part of his apology read, “After the Brazil-South Korea
match, I had a violent altercation with a person who was probably an Algerian
supporter.
“I would like to apologise for losing my temper and reacting
in a way that does not match my personality. I apologise to the public for this
unfortunate incident.”
Algeria filed a complaint over the performance of the
referee in the qualifying play-off in Blida on March 28, in which Cameroon’s
Karl Toko Ekambi scored the winner with the last kick of the match.
The shocking footage emerged online on Monday evening of the
football legend and current Cameroon FA president attacking a man outside a
stadium at the World Cup in Qatar.
The incredible clip Eto’o was just leaving Stadium 974 in
Doha, having just watched Brazil romp to victory against South Korea in their
round-of-16 match.
At first, Eto’o appears happy to pose for photos with
waiting fans as he makes his way out of the venue, before a man with a video
camera approaches him to his right.
The footage, filmed by La Opinion, then seemingly shows the
pair exchanging words, before the video cuts to a few seconds later, and Eto’o
returning to the scene to confront the man and began pushing him
At this point, various onlookers step in to try and quell
the disruption, but Eto’o is set on chasing the man and eventually has to be
held back as he continues to try and confront him.
With four men holding Eto’o back, the footage then shows him
giving his phone to a man, before breaking out of the huddle to knee the man in
the face, knocking him to the ground.
Can happen to the best of us, Good he apologized
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