Every four years, a select group of national soccer teams gather to compete on the world stage of sport, seeking to be crowned champions of what the Brazilian star Pelé famously called "the beautiful game." But the World Cup is not only about sporting achievement. Success at the tournament can also convey legitimacy to controversial leaders, and distract from politics and human rights violations at home.
Cameroon's biggest cultural export is arguably soccer because of the inventiveness and creativity of its players on the field. The world first recognized this 24 years ago in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, when the team charged into the quarterfinals before narrowly losing out to England in a hotly contested match. Today, players such as Samuel Eto'o and Alex Song play at the most prestigious soccer clubs on the planet, and the Indomitable Lions will head to Brazil to compete once again for the global prize. After 30 years of rule, President Paul Biya would certainly like nothing more than for his critics to root for his country's success in the tournament and forget about his regime's human rights abuses. But Cameroon's victories will ring hollow when one of its most creative voices off the field languishes in prison.
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