Nairobi, Feb. 1 -- Cameroon is (or was) Africa's football powerhouse. They reached the 1990 World Cup quarterfinals in Italy, becoming the first on the continent to do so. But three decades later, something is cracking within this strong tradition of football success.

Last week, Cameroon was bundled out of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), having meekly qualified to the round of 16 at the tournament going on in Cote d'Ivoire.

Now tongues are wagging in Cameroon with some soccer enthusiasts linking the unpleasant performance of the five-time African champions to the country's very political scale.

Read: African heavyweights tumble like dominoes at Afcon

In Cameroon, there have been the same politicians in most levels for the last thre...