Cameroon's football governing body, headed up by legendary African footballer Samuel Eto'o, faces being sued after reportedly accusing a journalist of blackmail.
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In a recent interview with BBC Sport Africa, French journalist Romain Molina said he intends to sue the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) after they issued a statement in which he was alleged to have attempted to blackmail Eto'o.
Molina, a well-known investigative journalist who has uncovered sexual abuse scandals in football, disputes Fecafoot's insinuation that he tried to extort Eto'o after threatening to drop a certain story if he was paid €25 000 (R456 000).
The journalist, however, says he did contact the former Barcelona forward earlier this year to warn him of "paedophilia cases in a big football academy in Cameroon".
Molina insists the attempted blackmail on Eto'o was from a person impersonating him, as could be interpreted as implied by Fecafoot in their statement, which read that the contact was made by someone "introducing himself as Romain Molina".
"That so-called number pretending to me is definitely not my number, nor my picture and the guy doesn't know how to write French properly – there are big mistakes," he added of a screengrab he has seen of the alleged imposter's WhatsApp messages.
"So, it's scandalous because when you look at the statement of Fecafoot, they didn't say it's me but everyone will believe it's me.
"My lawyer will definitely sue because it's a big lie."
Molina's lawyer Mokhtar Adbennouri, meanwhile, stated that this is the first time his client has been "deeply defamed".
"My client is used to revealing horrible facts relating to football," he said.
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"However, it is the first time he has been deeply defamed and smeared in an official statement of a football federation.
"It is totally unacceptable that a national organisation assumes the right to discredit a journalist."
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