Former Cameroon Captain Found Living Rough in Douala

Norbert Owona was a footballer from Cameroon who played for the national team in the 1960s and 1970s and later captained it. At club level he played for Union Douala in the city of Douala.

In 2018, news reports said that Owona, then aged 67, was living on the streets of Douala with no money and no home of his own. He told reporters that he was living like an animal, and that being treated this way by his country was unfair. He explained that he had spent his savings on cancer treatment for his wife and children, which left him without the means to keep a roof over his head.

He had also tried to get help through official channels. According to the report, he had written to government ministers about his health and asked for support. His situation became public when he went to hospital with an inguinal hernia.

There, Samuel Eto'o visited him. Eto'o pledged to buy him a house and also gave a donation of 500,000 CFA francs, worth around 686 pounds, according to Joseph Kamga, another former player. The report does not say whether the house was eventually provided, but the visit drew wide attention to the plight of a former national captain who had spent years serving his country on the pitch.