Sports in Cameroon is practiced widely by the population and advocated by the national

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. Cameroonians take pride in victories at international competitions, making sport an important source of national unity.DeLancey and DeLancey 251. Traditional sports in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

include

canoe racing A canoe is a lightweight narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British Englis ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. Wrestling has featured in the

initiation rites A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...

and other ceremonies of ethnic groups such as the

Bakweri The Bakweri (or Kwe) are a Bantu ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. They are closely related to Cameroon's coastal peoples (the Sawa), particularly the Duala and Isubu. Early survey discussion of these topics may be found in Ardener 1956 ...

and the Duala.Mbaku 185. However, in modern times, sports such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

caber toss The caber toss is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber" (/ˈkeɪbər/). It is normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. In Scotland, the caber is usually made from a l ...

, and

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

have become popular. The 40 km (24.8 mi)

Mount Cameroon Race of Hope The Mount Cameroon Race of Hope (in French, "La Course de l'Espoir") is an annual, televised footrace held at Mount Cameroon in the Southwest Region of Cameroon in January or February.Jones. The 20th edition of the Guinness mount Cameroon race o ...

draws several hundred runners each year.

Tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

hike Hike may refer to: * Hiking, walking lengthy distances in the countryside or wilderness * Hiking (sailing), moving a sailor's body weight as far to windward (upwind) as possible, in order to counteract the force of the wind pushing sideways agains ...

rock climb Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, and

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

, especially up

Mount Cameroon Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the South West region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous n ...

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

Tiko Tiko, originally called ‘Keka’ by the Bakweris, is a town and important port in the southwest region of Cameroon. The settlement grew as a market town for Duala (or Douala) fishermen, Bakweri (Kpwe people) farmers and hunters from Molyko, ...

and Kribi have

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

courses.West 93.

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

is also played, with about 15 clubs and 3,000 players nationally. The most popular sport by far is

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. Virtually every village has its own football pitch, and large numbers of spectators watch games between rival villages. The

Cameroon national football team The Cameroon national football team ( French: ''équipe du Cameroun de football''), also known as the Indomitable Lions (French: ''les lions indomptables''), represents Cameroon in men's international football. It is controlled by the Fédéra ...

has gained world recognition since their strong showing in the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

. The team has won five

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

titles. Footballer

Roger Milla Albert Roger Miller (born 20 May 1952), known as Roger Milla, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three Worl ...

is known around the world, and the 2003 death of

Marc-Vivien Foé Marc-Vivien Foé (1 May 1975 – 26 June 2003) was a Cameroonian professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder for both club and country. Having initially played for Canon Yaoundé, Foé went on to play professionally in Ligue 1 ...

during a game made international headlines. Many Cameroonian footballers have gone on to forge relatively successful careers in Europe, including Christian Bassogog who was named African best player of the 2017 African Nations Cup in Gabon 2017.

Rigobert Song Rigobert Song Bahanag (born 1 July 1976) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who is the manager of the Cameroon national team. Known for his defensive skills, Song usually played as a centre-back but could also operate at right-back ...

and

African Footballer of the Year African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

winners

Lauren Lauren may be a given name or surname.The name's meaning may be "laurel tree", "sweet of honor", or "wisdom". It is derived from the French name Laurence, a feminine version of Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Roman surname Laurentius. ...

and

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...

. Children begin playing sports in primary and secondary school. At the university level, the National Federation for College and University Sports (FENASCO; ) organises school competitions. The agency also handles

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

competitions at the primary-school level and national games at the secondary-school level. Many sports have their own organising body, including the Cameroon Boxing Federation (FECABOXE), the

Cameroonian Football Federation The Cameroonian Football Federation (french: Fédération Camerounaise de Football) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Cameroon. It is known as FECAFOOT. On 11 December 2021, the acting-President of FECAFOOT - former Cameroo ...

(FECAFOOT), and the

Cameroon Handball Federation The Cameroon Handball Federation (french: Fédération Camerounaise de Handball) (CHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball in the Republic of Cameroon. Founded in 1970, CHF is a member of African Handball Con ...

(FECAHAND). The

Cameroon Olympic Committee Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

is another national sports agency, and Cameroon is one of the few tropical countries to have competed in the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

Sports teams are organised along ethnic lines in Francophone Cameroon and under corporate or departmental sponsorship in Anglophone Cameroon. Teams develop fierce rivalries, and violence is not uncommon during matches. Training of athletes is handled by several sports institutes, including some owned by corporate sponsors, such as the

Brasseries du Cameroun Les Sociétés Anonymes des Brasseries du Cameroun (SABC or Groupe SABC) is a brewing company in Cameroon. Their offices and main factory are in Douala, with other breweries in Bafoussam, Douala, Garoua, and Yaoundé. Les Brasseries et Glacieres ...

's l'École de Football des Brasseries du Cameroun (EFBC) in

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Heavyweight Champion

Francis Ngannou Francis Zavier Ngannou (born 5 September 1986) is a Cameroonian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. A ...

hails from Cameroon.

Volleyball

The Volleyball Cup of Cameroon takes place on a regular basis. In June 2021, all the women's matches were played at the gymnasium of the National Advanced School of Public Works. The women's main teams included FAP,

Nyong The Nyong (formerly german: Yong) is a river in Cameroon. The river flows approximately to empty into the Gulf of Guinea. Course The Nyong originates east of the town of Abong-Mbang, where the northern rain forest feeds it. The river's leng ...

, Kelle,

Bafia Volleyball Evolution Bafia () is a Cameroonian town and commune in the Centre Province region. It is the capital of the Mbam-et-Inoubou department. It lies north of the country's capital Yaoundé. Bafia has approximately 55,700 inhabitants, making it the third larg ...

and Club Efoulan. Sports Activities File:Match de Basket.jpg, Basketball match during University Games in Buea File:Marathon à Douala.jpg, Marathon in Douala File:Foot ludique +++.jpg, Football match during inter-primary/secondary schools competition File:Foot ludique+++++.jpg File:Filles lutteuses++++.jpg, Female Wrestling File:Tournoi de cyclisme13.jpg, Cycling Tour in Douala File:Activités du Ngondo 01.jpg, Canoe competition during Ngondo File:Drag drag game.jpg, Children engaging in traditional Tug of War game File:Jeux d'enfants4.jpg File:Tournoi de cyclisme24.jpg File:Tournoi de cyclisme43.jpg File:Match de volley ball1.jpg, People watching volleyball match File:Glissade.jpg, Glissade on water File:Glissade++.jpg, Glissade Competition File:Glissade +.jpg File:Patineur à Douala 17.jpg File:Patineur à Douala 52.jpg File:Sport de masse 02.jpg, Group sport File:Sueur d'espoir.jpg, Female athlete during Mt Cameroon race of hope at few meter to the finish line File:Joueuse de tennis1.jpg File:Sport fontball 1.jpg, Winners of a football match

Notes

References

* DeLancey, Mark W., and Mark Dike DeLancey (2000): ''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon'' (3rd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press. * Mbaku, John Mukum (2005). ''Culture and Customs of Cameroon''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. * West, Ben (2004). ''Cameroon: The Bradt Travel Guide''. Guilford, Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press Inc. {{Sport in Africa