Reigning African champions, Cameroon, have dismissed Hugo Broos, barely 10 months after leading the Indomitable Lions to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Broos, 65, guided the Central African nation to their fifth title despite having to work with a depleted squad.
After that historic triumph, however, the Indomitable Lions have grappled, failing to live up to expectations.
At the FIFA Confederations Cup, Broos’ team stuttered and didn’t do any better during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying series – losing the sole ticket to Nigeria.
Now it appears the country’s FA has had enough, aiming to chat a new course for their senior national team.
In a statement, FECAFOOT’s normalisation committee said Broos’ failure to return the country to an “honourable” place in FIFA’s world ranking — they are currently 45th, the seventh-highest ranked African nation — and to “live in Cameroon during the execution of the contract to follow the national championships” were further reasons for his dismissal.
It also noted Broos’ inability to convince “several important players” not to reject their call-up to the national team, such as Liverpool’s Joel Matip before the African Nations Cup, and highlighted that with the 2019 edition to be held in the country.
“It has happened to Cameroon several times in the past to change coaches a few months before the competition and to then perform very honourably in that competition and even win it,” the statement added.
Broos, whose contract with FECAFOOT was supposed to run until February 2018, remains in the running for the CAF African Coach of the Year award.
The honour, for which former Valencia and Inter Milan boss, Hector Cuper, currently the coach of Egypt, is also a contender, will be handed over at a ceremony in the Ghanaian capital of Accra on January 4.
