{"id":3150,"date":"2022-01-30T21:45:56","date_gmt":"2022-01-30T21:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/?p=3150"},"modified":"2023-01-30T10:22:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T10:22:43","slug":"this-cant-be-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/2022\/01\/30\/this-cant-be-right\/","title":{"rendered":"This Can\u2019t be Right!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Oryx Douala’s Stadium<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (January 30th<\/sup> 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was due to be in Yaound\u00e9 today to watch the last two quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations \u2013 Egypt v Morocco and S\u00e9n\u00e9gal v the last of the surprise packages, Equatorial Guinea. Instead, I remained in Douala. Alex Ebongue, told me that he had arranged for us to meet a great legend of Cameroonian \u2013 African \u00a0\u2013\u00a0football actually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned me that I would not like what I was going to see \u2013 the living conditions of this legend. Oryx Douala were the winners of the inaugural African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1965. Only three of that team survive, including Ricardo Elam\u00e9-Manga, the octogenarian great I had stayed behind to meet. It proved to be a rare privilege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Oryx Douala, Cameroonian and African Legend, Ricardo Elam\u00e9-Manga <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have attended a few matches at this AFCON but despite CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, declaring his wish to incorporate legends into African football, the first generation of Cameroonian greats like Elam\u00e9-Manga were conspicuous by their absence. He began playing in 1959 in Yaound\u00e9, transferring to Oryx Douala in 1962. Oryx became the first club to become African champions \u2013 it was reserved for league champions then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oryx are in the third division of Cameroonian football, but they were the first great club of Cameroonian football since independence. Their stadium is now named after one of their greatest legends, Mbapp\u00e9 Lepp\u00e9. Sadly, a statue of Lepp\u00e9 at the ground was vandalised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living Conditions Unbefitting Legends<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ebongue didn\u2019t know that I have seen a few legends living in conditions unbecoming their status in football. I have seen it in Ghana. For example, the late Asante Kotoko and 1978 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hero Fuseini Salifu. Fuseini deserved much better. Medical ailments ravaged his body in the last year of his life \u2013 he had to have a leg amputated, but it was too late. The effects of a stroke in 2016 and diabetes took its toll. The money finally paid to 1978\u2019s AFCON winners came too late for Fuseini \u2013 his medical needs devoured it. Fuseini died a day later in October 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Abdul Razak Karim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Along with his teammate, Golden Boy, Abdul Razak Karim, I visited him twice. Golden Boy was the Player of the Tournament in 1978. The former Asante Kotoko player was one of the greatest players the Black Stars ever produced. He was also a humanitarian who told me about Fuseini and helped highlight the plight of Kotoko greats. The second time was a surprise to him as I came back to see him bearing a gift from his rival but teammate, one of Ghana\u2019s great goalkeepers, Joseph Carr, and a message from Carr who told Fuseini that he knew about his plight and wanted to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It lifted his spirits and so did the generosity of spirit of an African football legend. Hearing of Fuseini\u2019s plight, AFCON\u2019s highest scorer, Samuel Eto\u2019o Fils, the recently elected President of FECAFOOT, sent Fuseini this message https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9eiIjSGqGWo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Salifu Fuseini and family with Joseph Carr’s gift<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hope<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elam\u00e9-Manga deserves better. He inspired Cameroonian greats, Roger Milla and Joseph Antoine Bell. Both defer to Elam\u00e9-Manga. He is 80 now, living in accommodation that does not accord with his legendary status. Players of his era never had the opportunity to earn and save. He now requires help for medicines and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His years of service over, he cannot cover his needs now. His plight should touch the hearts of Cameroonians and football. He received 10000 CAF (Central African Francs) for winning the African Cup of Champions Clubs \u2013 10000. Compare that to match winning bonuses now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Elam\u00e9 has not been included in Cameroon\u2019s second AFCON \u2013 he hasn\u2019t been seen in VVIP at Douala\u2019s Japoma Stadium. The least \u2013 the very least \u2013 he deserves is to be treated as the great legend that he is and to be feel football\u2019s love. It\u2019s long overdue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (January 30th 2022) Mission I was due to be in Yaound\u00e9 today to watch the last two quarter-finals of the [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[140,99,134,144,139,141,143],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3150"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3690,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3150\/revisions\/3690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}