Interbasket

The Cameroon National Team is one of the twelve international teams vying for one of the three remaining spots in the 2008 Olympics.

And Cameroon, along with the other underdogs in the World Qualifying Tournament, such as Lebanon, Cape Verde and Korea, will have to face some huge hurdles on the court to earn a ticket to Beijing.  Unfortunately, the small West-African nation also has had to deal with a number of off-the-court issues.

Cameroon has always has issues with funding their sports.  And have always had trouble with infrastructure and preparation - finding and securing proper training facilities in their homeland.

Back in April 2008,  Federation president Chrysogone Simon Noah was saying all the right things about taking care of his national team: “Right now, I am working directly with the Ministry of Sports in an effort to give our young patriots an ideal preparation for the upcoming Olympics and I would like to invite any sponsors that would like to represent us during these preparations.”

Then with less than 2 weeks before the tournament began, there was word that UCLA player, recent NBA draftee, and Cameroonian star Luc Mbah a Moute may miss the Qualifiers because of issues with the Milwaukee Bucks, dashing the hopes of their first Olympic berth in history.

Still, Cameroon was able to deal with these issues as they were not different from other country’s struggles, but there was one outstanding issue, one that if it was not resolved, may eventually force Cameroon to prematurely leave the tournament before it even started.  This problem could also discourage young, talented Cameroonian players to not participate in national competition.

Broken Promises
After winning a silver medal in 2007’s Afrobasket, the players from Cameroon were promised that they would be paid by the Cameroonian Federation and Ministry of Sports for their accomplishment and participation in the tournament.

That was 11 months ago, and not one Cameroonian player has received the money they were promised for participating and bringing home a chance for the 2008 Olympics.  FIBA’s Africa Championship was held last August, almost a year ago.  And because of this reason, the players decided that they would boycott the World Qualifiers in Greece if they weren’t given the money they were promised.

“We have faced a lot of adversity…  they were promised something, and they haven’t received it. They haven’t received anything. -after playing at the AfroBasket in Angola,” Cameroon coach Lazare Adingono told FIBA.

But on the consistent promises and assurances from their Federation and government, Cameroon made the trip to Athens in hopes that the the promises would eventually come through so they could be made whole and take the court to represent their country proudly.

The money never made it to Athens, forcing the Cameroonian players to choose.

Playing for their Country and Families
And with a couple hours before their first game in their quest for a berth in the Olympics, Cameroon was left with a difficult and conflicted decision; despite the broken promises by their country, they still could put on their national team uniforms, represent Cameroon, and give their country the chance at an Olympic berth.  Or they could stick to their promise of a boycott and sit out the game against  Croatia, who were the favorites to win the game, to let their government know that they were serious.

“They came together, talked about it and said if the government and federation weren’t willing to help them in any way, they decided they would do it for the country and their families.” said Adingono

And though the Croatians would eventually win the game 93-79, the scrappy and athletic Cameroon national team not only won respect from basketball fans around the world for taking the high road, they also got big respect from their opponents.

After the game, head coach Lazare Adingono summarized the effort his team gave, “It’s a tribute to them. They wanted to show to the entire world that Cameroon can be a force for years to come, not just in Africa, but the whole world. They wanted to show what this could have been if everything could have been in place.”

The Day After
As of today, July 15th, they still have not received any money.  It has been exactly 11 months to the day.   With their game against Puerto Rico scheduled for later today, the Cameroon team is again threatening not to show up for their game as a protest against the lack of support they’ve received from their homeland organizations.

This time, the players and the coach are united in their stand against the people who run the basketball in Cameroon.  Ex-NBA star Reuben Boumtje Boumtje says the leaders have continuously failed to provide proper practice facilities for decades and the players’ stand is to highlight the issues so that something can be done.  “We’re tired of it,” he added.   Stay tuned.

Links and Sources: 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament Preview & FIBA Forum (Interbasket) Cameroon National Team Discussion (Interbasket),  Strike threat at FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament (Radio New Zealand), Croatia win as Cameroon play only for pride (Fiba), Olympic Qualifying Tournament Forum (Interbasket Forum)  Cameroon fear star Mbah a Moute may miss Athens (Fiba), Official Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament Site (FIBA), Cameroon appeal for financial backing ahead of Athens (Fiba)