Cameroonian Basketball Clubs : Worrying Irregularity On African Scene

For the second edition in a role, Forces Armées et Police (FAP) Basketball club of Cameroon will not take part in the continent’s most prestigious club competition dubbed the Basketball Africa League. They were defeated by Al Ahly Benghazi in the third-place match of the Elite 16 West Division qualifiers in Yaounde on November 5, 2023. The fall came as a disappointment to Cameroonians who look up to FAP as their only hope on the continent. This is especially as they have taken part twice in the Basketball Africa League and made an impressive semi-final finish in the 2022 edition. Hope because basketball lovers thought the irregularity curse had been broken. 
During the days of the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup that is now the Basketball Africa League, Cameroon was very irregular and according to sources, it was principally due to financial and structural reasons. They created an upset in 2010 when Condor Basketball club reached the final. After Condor, Cameroon fell back to its irregularity trend with clubs not being able to participate. Cameroon surfaced again in 2016 with two clubs (BEAC and Nzui Manto). Nzui Manto was eliminated in the group phase while BEAC had an impressive quarterfinals finish. 
Cameroon was again absent till the inception of the Basketball Africa League when FAP represented the country in the first two final phases in 2021(Quarterfinal) and 2022 (semi-final). They failed to qualify for 2023 and now they won’t be part of the 2024 edition. Performances that are worrying and raise eyebrows on what is preventing the Cameroonian clubs from shining on the continent. Away from the financial difficulties encountered in the past as to what...