Jean-Paul Akono (born 1 January 1952) is a Cameroonian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player.

Early and personal life

Akono was born on 1 January 1952 in

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 ...

Playing career

Akono played for

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 ...

at international level, participating in the

1972 African Cup of Nations The 1972 African Cup of Nations was the eighth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Cameroon, in the cities of Yaoundé and Douala. Just like in 1970, the field of eight te ...

, and appearing in one FIFA World Cup qualifying match in 1973. He played club football for

Canon Yaoundé Canon Sportif de Yaoundé, commonly known as Canon Yaoundé, is a Cameroonian association football club based in capital city of Yaoundé. The club was formed in 1930 and play their games at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo. Their most successful period was ...

between 1979 and 1980.

Coaching career

Akono was in charge of Cameroon at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. He was appointed to manage the Cameroon national team on an interim basis in September 2012. In April 2013 it was announced that the Cameroonian Football Association had begun the process of finding a permanent replacement for Akono. Akono later stated he was "shocked and embarrassed" that they were replacing him, and that he would not be applying for the job on a permanent basis. The Cameroonian Football Association later announced that Akono would remain in charge for forthcoming World Cup qualifying matches in June 2013, although they would continue their search for a replacement due to Akono's illness; he was replaced by German

Volker Finke Volker Finke (born 24 March 1948) is a German football manager. He was the coach of SC Freiburg for 16 years. Coaching career On 6 December 2008, Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds announced they signed a contract with Finke as head coach until ...

a few days later.

References

1952 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Cameroonian men's footballers Cameroon men's international footballers Canon Yaoundé players Men's association football midfielders Cameroonian football managers Cameroon national football team managers Chad national football team managers Cameroonian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Chad 1972 African Cup of Nations players {{Cameroon-footy-bio-stub