Former Newcastle United and Chelsea midfielder Geremi has been banned from all football activity for five years.placeholder image
Former Newcastle United and Chelsea midfielder Geremi has been banned from all football activity for five years. | Getty Images
A former Champions League winner and Newcastle United captain has been suspended from football.
The Cameroon FA have declared Geremi ‘guilty of breaking the behaviour rules of our code of ethics’ following an investigation into an incident that occurred during the 2023 African Cup of Nations.
The 46-year-old has until the end of the month to submit a written appeal.
Geremi’s Newcastle United spell after Chelsea & Real Madrid success
Geremi joined Newcastle from Chelsea in 2007 and was named captain by then manager Sam Allardyce. The midfielder was quickly replaced as skipper by Michael Owen but remained at the club until 2010.
The former Cameroon international made 54 appearances for The Magpies over two-and-a-half seasons, scoring three goals.
It came after successful spells at Real Madrid and Chelsea. Geremi won the Champions League twice with Real Madrid in 2000 and 2002 before moving to Chelsea, where he won the Premier League twice under Jose Mourinho.
He left Newcastle in 2010 to join MKE Ankaragücü in Turkey for half a season before ending his professional career at Athlitiki Enosi Larissa. His contract was terminated after just half a season in Greece at age 32.
Geremi five-year ban confirmed by Cameroon FA
Since his retirement, Geremi, now 46, has been part of the National Union of Footballers of Cameroon (Synafoc) but now faces a lengthy ban after a major fallout with Cameroon football legend and Cameroon FA (FeCafoot) president Samuel Eto’o.
Reports from Cameroon claim Geremi had to be ‘forcibly removed’ by security on the orders of Cameroon FA officials.
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A statement from the FeCafoot ethics committee read: “We declare Geremi Sorel Njitap, the president of Synafoc, guilty of breaking the behaviour rules of our code of ethics. We sentence him to a ban from all forms of football activity for five years, and to a fine of ten million West African francs [£13,000]. He has ten days to submit a written appeal."
Geremi’s assistant, Daniel Blaise Ngos, has also received a two-year ban and a £6,500 fine as a result of the incident.
It has been reported that Geremi will launch an appeal against the decision and could even take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to overturn the decision.
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