On June 26, football players worldwide remembered Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe who died seventeen years ago from a cardiac arrest on a football pitch in a FIFA Confederations Cup semifinal against Colombia.
The midfielder had just moved to England with Manchester City acquiring his services on a loan deal from French giants Lyon.
Foe was at his peak having helped RC Lens to the Ligue One title in 1998 thus attracting the interest of Manchester City among a host of other big clubs.
The 28-year-old star collapsed to the turf off the ball in the 72nd minute and died shortly after arriving at the stadium’s medical centre. He was buried on the 7th of July and since then he continues to be remembered as an incredible player both home and abroad.
Back in Cameroon, Foe had a dream of giving youngsters the opportunity to play football. He had begun building a sports complex on the outskirts of Yaoundé which to date had stalled despite financial support made by authorities 17 years ago.
The Cameroonian government is reported to have financially assisted Foe’s family in completing the sports complex but a bitter row between Marc-Vivien Foe’s widow Marie-Louise and his father Martin Foé Amougou has led to the abandonment of the project.
In a lengthy interview published on Monday by online publication 237 Actu, Foe’s father accuses the widow of interfering with the completion of the sporting complex together with several estates of the two-time African champion saying she has blocked him from accessing the site.
“Marie-Louise simply took advantage of my absence from Cameroon to create disorder. In fact, it’s been almost five years that I have been in Europe for treatment because as everyone knows the death of Marc made me have a stroke. Since that time instead of being in meditation, Marie Louise went to pour gravel at the entrance of the Elig-Essono building to block access,” Foe’s father said.
“As Marc’s father, I am the owner of the estates. I had two sons in my life, Foé Marc Vivien who died and Foé Ateba Emmanuel who is currently hosting me in France. I have eight grandsons and two great-grandsons. I gave my grandsons a three-storey building that Marc left me in the Nkomo district of Yaoundé as well as two villas located at the old airport still in Yaoundé.
“I remind you that the estates were placed under my watch before the marriage between Marc Vivien and Marie Louise. Everything is in my name.”
Asked why the family has never resolved the inheritance wrangle especially the management of assets for past seventeen years, Martin placed the blame on Marie Louise.
“What I do know is that after Marc’s tragic death, I asked myself a lot of questions and I was very angry. How could my son die like that? How did they let him play on June 26, 2003 when he was sick? These are questions that any parent can ask himself or herself. And since that time, we have never heard from Marie Louise again. No collaboration, no understanding, we know nothing about her or our grandchildren,” he concluded.
Martin was also put to task to explain where the funds channelled by the Cameroonian government to complete the Stade Marc-Vivien Foe went.
“The complex is in my name. But, I never received any money from the government to finish the works of the complex which had started during Marc’s lifetime. It was Marie Louise who received the money from FIFA and the Cameroonian government which was intended for this. Samuel Eto’o came to see me for a project that would have completed the complex, but Marie Louise refused to collaborate.”
Foe was buried in the middle of the four-hectare sports complex in the Okoui neighbourhood of Yaounde.
The complex is estimated to cost about $6 million and, upon completion, will contain a football pitch, an athletics track, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and, amongst others, three tennis courts.
