Samuel Eto’o threatens to sue news website for playing a prank over him

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Barcelona, April 4: Samuel Eto'o has threatened to sue a news site for defamation after they made up an interview in which he declared he will run for Cameroon presidential election in 2018.

Jeune Afrique, a French-language pan-African weekly news outlet, published the story on last Sunday as an April Fool's joke claiming the former African player of the year will run for election.

However, the prank was not accurately reviewed by a popular French newsgroup, France 24 who fell into the trap and they later posted the news which eventually went viral.

Seeing the public reaction of the Social media outrage for the Post, the Cameroon international immediately made a response where he stated that the report is completely false and they must remove the news as it may hurt the sensitive political issue of his country. He also even threatened to take legal action for defamation.

The veteran striker wrote on Facebook: 'As a Cameroonian, I am deeply respectful of the institutions of my country and those who embody them.

"I, therefore, believe that the 2018 presidential election in Cameroon and the exercise of the supreme office are very important and cannot be discussed lightly.

"More seriously, the authors of this farce mocked the Anglophone crisis — a situation that causes desolation and mourning in my country.

"I think that the words attributed to my modest self under the guise of a supposed farce are absolutely reductive and denote a total lack of respect."

However, the post has not removed yet but soon after Eto's post, the media house came upfront and made a declaration that the news was a satire and the interview was fully made up.

It reads: "This interview is directly out of the fruit of our imagination for April 1. As confirmed by the humorous tone of this interview, Samuel Eto'o never claimed that he would run for president in Cameroon."

The Cameroon legend currently plays for Turkish club Konyaspor and it is understood that he is on the verge of his career's end.

The 37-year-old forward has over 350 goals to his name till now in his club football career and he is mostly known for his Barcelona and Inter Milan stints where he helped them to win two Champions league as well as four league titles. He also has played 118 times for Cameroon and scored 56 goals but retired from international duty in 2014.