Goalkeeper kidnapped by the president because of the match fixing

A football scandal shocked Cameroon this week when Valentin Kwain, President of Victoria United, allegedly kidnapped and tortured his own goalkeeper Eric Parfait Djomeni in order to express a confession about matchfixing accusations.

According to reports, Kwain accused the 19-year-old shooting stopper to repair two championship games after placing bets on a betting platform. Both parties also agreed not to bring the matter to court. A compromise that aims to preserve the interests of each party and to avoid a potentially long and costly legal dispute.

Dschomeni denies these accusations.

It all started when the police found no evidence of these claims, Kwain took the matter into his own hands and ordered the player to be kidnapped. The young football player was held as hostage in a place that was not mentioned for three days when Kwain forced him to admit misconduct.

The National Union of Cameroonian Footballers (Syncafoc) gathered behind the goalkeeper.

“Justice for Eric Parfait Djomeni! Victoria United's young goalkeeper was kidnapped, held hostage and tortured by the notorious president of his club Valentin Kwain. Eric, we are with you! “Marcel Itiga Itiga, director of Synafoc communication, said in a statement.

Africa knows several episodes of Match-Fixing scandals in recent history and drew both players and civil servants.

Chaos broke out in 2018 after a match-fixing scandal was orchestrated from a well-organized syndicate with its dirty fingers in everything from Africa Cup of National qualification games to club games. The players were paid to deliberately pull their feet or ensure that their teams either lose or draw depending on the bet.

But it was not only the players, the referees were also looking for, dodgy decisions, award undeserved punishments or cards – all in accordance with the placed bet.

CAF reacted by banning players for life, booting referees from the game and struck with severe fines and point deductions in clubs.