Sponsor Suspends Campaign as Indomitable Lioness Is Seen Kissing Woman in Viral Video

A short video appearing to show a Cameroonian women’s football international kissing another woman has triggered a heated online debate, with one beauty company already suspending promotional activities involving a woman linked to the footage.

The video began circulating widely on social media overnight between September 7 and 8. It appears to show two women kissing inside what looks like a lift. Social-media posts have identified one of them as a member of Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses, although MMI News has not independently established the identities of the women or the circumstances in which the footage was recorded.

The clip has drawn sharp reactions from some sports commentators and football supporters in Cameroon, with calls for the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT, to examine the matter.

Sports journalist Marc Chouamo was quoted as suggesting that the player could miss the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, while sports outlet Ayila’Sport called for FECAFOOT’s ethics commission to intervene.

No official statement from FECAFOOT confirming disciplinary proceedings has been seen by MMI News.

The controversy has already reached the commercial world.

Ange Hair & Beauty, whose brand ambassador known as Ngon Eton has been associated online with the video, announced that it was suspending communications and promotional activities involving her while it examines the situation.

“Pending a complete verification of the facts and a review of the contractual commitments linked to this collaboration, Ange Hair & Beauty has decided to suspend all communications and activations associated with Ngon Eton,” the company said in a statement.

The company stopped short of terminating the partnership and said it would announce further measures after reviewing the matter.

The video has also reopened a sensitive debate around women’s football in Cameroon, where female players have for years had to contend with stereotypes linking participation in the sport to homosexuality.

Cameroon international Ajara Nchout Njoya addressed that stereotype publicly in 2021, saying people should stop assuming that a woman is lesbian simply because she plays football.

The current controversy risks reviving precisely that association, even though the conduct or private life of one individual cannot be used to draw conclusions about female footballers generally.

There is also a legal dimension. Same-sex sexual relations are criminalised under Article 347-1 of Cameroon’s Penal Code. However, a video showing two women kissing does not by itself establish that an offence covered by that provision has been committed.

The circulation of the clip has prompted another question: how far should the private lives of athletes become grounds for sporting or commercial sanctions, particularly when private footage is distributed online without clear information about how it was obtained?

Some commentators have also accused the authorities of applying Cameroon’s laws selectively, arguing that prominent or well-connected individuals have sometimes escaped scrutiny in previous controversies while others have faced prosecution.

For now, there is no indication that the player has been charged with an offence or formally sanctioned by football authorities.

What began as a few seconds of private footage has now become a much wider argument about privacy, sexuality, sponsorship, women’s football and the limits of institutional power over athletes’ personal lives.