In a nation awaiting a long-overdue government reshuffle, public discourse should prioritize national priorities over football debates, writes commentator Jean Rodrigue Atemengue.

Cameroonians,

Cameroon’s national football team, the Indomitable Lions, failed to qualify for the upcoming World Cup. Yet rather than confronting the country’s deeper challenges, public attention remains fixated on football controversies and federation disputes. While the team won’t compete on the global stage, we continue to dissect matches we won’t play.

Where should our focus truly lie?

This fixation on football reveals a troubling paradox: even the sport that once united Cameroonians now struggles with credibility. Once a source of national pride and continental excellence, Cameroonian football now grapples with mismanagement, corruption scandals, and crumbling infrastructure. The recent non-qualification exposes systemic failures that extend beyond the pitch.

Football remains a legitimate passion—a unifying force that transcends political, ethnic, and social divides. Figures like Samuel Eto’o deserve admiration for their contributions to the sport. But when our national team isn’t competing at the highest level, should football dominate national discourse?

Certainly not. Not when institutions falter, justice loses credibility, and essential services fail our people. When judges issue arrest warrants that go unexecuted, when constitutional reforms create positions that remain vacant for months, and when basic infrastructure like roads and electricity deteriorate, football cannot be our primary concern.

Who benefits from this distraction?

Every time public debate centers on football controversies, critical issues like institutional dysfunction, economic stagnation, and social inequality fade into the background. Intellectuals, journalists, and opinion leaders share responsibility for steering discussions toward substantive analysis rather than fleeting controversies.

This isn’t about abandoning football. It’s about setting priorities. When our institutions function transparently, when justice inspires trust, when youth find opportunity, and when roads and services meet citizens’ needs—then we can passionately debate football to our hearts’ content.

But today, obsessing over a football team that isn’t even competing while ignoring deeper national crises amounts to a dangerous misallocation of attention. It distracts from the real work of building a functional state and a prosperous future for all Cameroonians.

A call for meaningful dialogue

Cameroonians deserve public discourse that addresses our most urgent challenges. We deserve institutions that inspire confidence, a justice system that commands respect, and governance that prioritizes citizens over spectacle.

History will remember those who asked the right questions—not those who debated tournaments Cameroon wouldn’t attend or a football in decline.