A Cameroonian professional footballer faces deportation and is currently incarcerated at the Limnes detention centre, despite reportedly being a key prosecution witness in a criminal case regarding alleged financial crimes and fraud against directors of his former club.

The man, 31-year-old Charles Eloundou, is expected to appear in court for a deportation hearing on September 22, with his residence permit having expired after he left second tier side Spartakos Kitiou at the end of last season.

However, he has already agreed to join fellow second tier side Asil Lysi, with footballers’ association chairman Spiros Neofitides having told newspaper Phileleftheros that given this to be the case, the renewal of his residence permit should be “a formality”, especially given that his wife is a French national.

Spouses of European Union nationals typically have a smoother path to acquiring residence permits than other third-country nationals, while Neofitides also said that  the request for the renewal of Eloundou’s residence permit was filed “eight months ago”.

“The second serious aspect of the whole matter has to do with the fact that Eloundou will testify in a very serious case concerning possible serial forgery against professional football players. Eloundou is a key witness for the prosecution and if he does not testify under oath in court, then the administration of justice will not be served,” he said.

That case concerns three directors of Achyronas-Onisilos, who were relegated to the third tier last season.

It has been alleged that the three men, aged 58 years old, 57 years old, and 44 years old, had submitted forged contracts to the Cyprus Football Association, with it believed that the documents were forged without the players’ knowledge.

Eloundou played for Achyronas-Onisilos between 2024 and 2025, having spent the majority of his career in Cyprus and the United States. The three men were first arrested in February last year, when Eloundou was still at the club.

On the island, Eloundou has also played for Nea Salamina and Anorthosis, winning 2020 Cypriot Cup with the latter, while also spending a brief loan spell at Ethnikos Achna, before later turning out for Achyronas-Onisilos and Spartakos Kitiou.

In the US, he played for Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, before later appearing for lower league sides Charlotte Independence, Colorado Springs Switchbacks, and the Jacksonville Armada.

Additionally, he made a solitary appearance for his national team, coming on as a substitute to play the final half-hour of a 1-0 friendly defeat to Tanzania in 2013.