Eto´o doesn´t regret strike

Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o says he has no regrets over the strike action that led to his 15-match suspension.

Eto’o was banned for instigating a player strike after officials delayed the payment of match bonuses from the LG Cup held in Morocco.

The action subsequently forced a scheduled international friendly against Algeria on November 15 to be cancelled.

But despite the lengthy ban, Eto’o says the strike action was worth it.

“We do not regret our action, we wanted to make it clear that things could not continue as before,” Eto’o told a Cameroonian television.

“We seized the opportunity to try to bring about solutions to Cameroonian football.”

Eto’o had told reporters Cameroonians would soon hear the “whole truth of the matter” moments after the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) disciplinary committee’s hearing on December 12.

The Anzhi forward also said the match bonus row from the LG Cup they won early November in Morocco was not the only reason for the strike action, but that the players were unhappy with Fecafoot over a number of issues.

“It is difficult to explain why officials would prefer to fly players eight hours just to go and train elsewhere when it can be done in the country,” Eto’o said.

If the sanction stands, the four-time African Footballer of the Year will likely miss Cameroon’s qualifying campaign for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup.

Eto’o called on local fans to abstain from planned protests against the Fecafoot decision.