A Cameroonian club president has reportedly been accused of kidnapping and torturing a goalkeeper after suspecting that he was involved in illegal betting.
Victoria United president Valentin Nkwain is reportedly at the centre of a scandal in which he was accused of kidnapping and torturing his own goalkeeper, Eric Djomeni.
Read: Ex-Man Utd star: AFCON needs more respect
According to Afrik Foot, Nkwain allegedly ordered Djomeni's abduction and detention for three days, accusing the player of match-fixing and illegal betting on Victoria United's games through a betting platform.
The allegations come amid ongoing concerns about corruption in Cameroonian football.
The goalkeeper's mother, in an emotional plea on Equinoxe Radio, claimed her son had been beaten and coerced into admitting to match-fixing.
"Until now I don't know why my son is being held here. He is being held like a prisoner, he is inside and he has been spanked. I looked at his buttocks and I saw the traces of whipping. I saw him and I don't know where they took him," she is understood to have said per Afrik Foot.
"I am unhappy and if I leave here without my child, I don't know how to sleep […] He told me that he was beaten, asking him to accept that he sold matches. I can't talk to my son, I don't know where he is. I am leaving Douala and I just want to see him."
According to Afrik foot, Nkwain was to have previously been implicated in a match-fixing scandal in 2023, when an audio recording allegedly linked him to discussions with Samuel Eto'o about influencing match outcomes.
Despite the serious accusations, Victoria United has since released a video of Djomeni, in which the goalkeeper insists he is safe and free, dismissing the reports as fake news.
"We are training normally. There are no problems. Everything that was said on the networks was not true. I had to receive my mother yesterday. Everyone can come and see me. I am not sequestered," the player is believed to have said in the video.
???? Éric Parfait Djomeni, gardien de Victoria United :« On s'entraîne normalement. Il n'y a pas de problèmes. Tout ce qui s'est dit sur les réseaux n'était pas vrai. J'ai eu à recevoir ma mère hier. Tout le monde peut venir me voir. Je ne suis pas séquestré ». ????????… pic.twitter.com/9zsMhMzwdT
— AllezLesLions (@AllezLesLions) February 25, 2025
Read: Mourinho accused of racism - legal action to follow?