Sorry sights of the brutalization of Ndanga Mundi and his Refereeing contigent on Tuesday September 11 at the CAF Excellence Center in Mbankomo has left many dumbstruck.
What promised to be an interesting football match between Kumba City FC of the Southwest Region and Center Region’s Mintack of Haut Sanaga turned out to be everything except a football match. Some have comically termed it ‘foot fighting’ due to the ugly scenes that climaxed the occasion.
It is a long tale which can be detailed in another piece after we have diagnosed and seek answers to “why always Kumba City FC”?.
Kumba City Football Club of the economic capital of the Southwest region of Cameroon has had its matches in the News in recent times, unfortunately for the wrong reason.
In the past three years, at least four of the club’s crucial matches have been marred by scandalous officiating that have either led to chaos or outright abandonment.
A careful observation and research will reveal that these chaotic scenes mostly sparked by questionable officiating have been a regular occurrence in professional and amateur league matches in recent times in Cameroon. However, the question begging for answers on the lips of every keen observer and lover of the game in or around Cameroon is what explains the frequency of this chaos in Kumba City FC matches.
Why always Kumba City FC?
Harnessed and hatched by Mayor Greg Mewanu in the ‘football crazy’ city of Kumba less than a decade ago, surely with ambitions to recreate the sensations of the yesteryear from the likes of Golden Soap, Cammark Kumba and the rest, Kumba City has known its fair share of troubles even before maturity.
For starters, the first time Kumba City made news across Cameroon was in 2023 when their Southwest Regional League playoffs match against NQSA of Limbe descended into chaos. In the game played at the Middle Farms stadium, players of the Limbe-based side decried some of the decisions from the match officials: including the issuance of three red cards, two penalties and six yellow cards in the first-leg semi final game.
The frustration that day wasn’t only expressed by the players of the eventual losing side. Neutrals that witnessed the showing from the match officials were left perplexed on the standards displayed by Atangana Williams and co that day.
Strange enough, the season didn’t end on the pitch, NQSA officials questioned the neutrality of the match officials and even made a court case of it. Their accusations of the officials and those of Kumba City led to a brief verbal war between the two clubs and the Referees were even summoned for questioning in Yaounde.
On the pitch, Kumba City FC triumphed over the two leg semi-final, but fell short against a resolute ISOHSA side in the final. At the blast of the final whistle that day those on the recieving end of controversy related to Kumba jubilated and said justice had taken its course.
Two years past, the same old ‘demon’ resurfaced
Fast track 2025, Kumba City returned to the business phase of the South West Regional championship and faced Fako United FC in the semi-final again.
It was public domain information that the ground had been prepared for Kumba City was the team programmed by the league management body to win the league and represent the region. Hence all was done to clear the path for them.
Tiko United, Electsport and others had to pay the price.
For example, in the first-leg game Tiko United beat Legend FA by 3-1. But as it has been the case in most national competitions in recent years, observant parties knew it was far from over and truly it was. The aim was to ensure Legend be in the final and let go Kumba City FC.
In the reverse fixture, Ndanga Mundi, Meyong Bienvenu and Terry Lucas were appointed match officials for the game played behind closed doors but with over 50 public security officers at the Ngeme Stadium.
That semi-final game didn’t last till the end of the first segment and Tiko United players attacked the match officials and Daniel Wallindjom who was the match commissioner on that day. Mind you, he approved the pre-mature end of the game semi-final given his capacity as match commissioner. These days he serves as one of the coaches Kumba City.
Kumba City went on to qualify for their first final and a number of the Tiko United players and officials were banned.
In the final, they beat Legend of Kumba to secure their first ever interpool appearance.
Ndanga, Lucas reappear in another Kumba City FC affair
While the World was busy commemorating the twin tower attack in Washington back in 2001 this Thursday, September 11, the comtroversial ‘refereeing twin’: Terry Lucas and Ndanga Mundi were drafted into the game Kumba City versus Mintack of Haut Sanaga, little did they know their own 9/11 was in the offing.
For their case it wasn’t about 19 persons attacking the twin tower, it was an angry mob that had grudges and took advantage of the frustration generated by some of the refereeing calls against Mintack. They expressed their anger in the most inadmissible manner – molesting the match officials who had made a number of strange calls to drag Kumba City FC from two goals down to a parity situation with just over a third of the game left.
Ndanga and Terry Lucas were mercilessly beaten by the angry fans of Mintack and neutrals. Ndanga lost at least two teeth and was stripped naked.
It took serious public security intervention and tactics to get them off the hook and rush them to the hospital. A truly shameful sight for anyone that holds Cameroon football in high esteem.
Though every saint football lover condemns violence in the game, they all agree fair officiating can serve as a bedrock for a greater spirit of fairplay and minimized occurrence of violence.
So far, Kumba City FC looks like a great project for Southwest football and Kumba in particular. However, because business doesn’t thrive on the foundation of scandals, the onus is on the club and its mentors to quickly clean their image to minimize the number of lips asking “why always Kumba City FC” in these debates of strange officiating and matches ending prematurely. Yes, it’s not always about external validation, but football being a business for fans makes external perspective telling.
Don’t get it twisted, Kumba City FC have the resources and fan base to succeed in football without these controversial events, so why not go for that?
Lovers of the game and Kumba City FC over time will agree with Ryan Holiday who once said: “Do not let your life be a testimony to the fact that you were willing to pay ANY PRICE for success. Instead, let your life be a testament to the fact that success was not worth the price.”
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