"Onana has just changed his mind about not wanting to return to the Cameroon team for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations from January 13 to February 11, 2024, in order to focus on playing for MU Club. But this could cause him to be punished by the World Football Federation (FIFA) because of a little-known regulation," said The Sun (UK).

The 27-year-old goalkeeper has received a lot of criticism recently for making many mistakes, such as the two situations where he conceded goals from Hakim Ziyech's free kicks in the match between MU and Galatasaray to equalize 3-3 in the Champions League. "Therefore, Onana wants to focus on playing for MU to improve his form, so he refused to return to the national team," shared The Sun.

Onana believes he will not be sanctioned by FIFA, because in fact he has only played one match for Cameroon since deciding to return and then withdrew due to injury, in the 2026 World Cup African qualifier against Mauritius (won 3-0) on November 17.

"However, Onana has been confirmed by the Cameroon Football Federation to FIFA as a player eligible to be called up to the national team, after he announced his retirement from international football. Therefore, Onana will have to comply with any call-up to the Cameroon team if he is called up by head coach Rigobert Song in the near future to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations. If he refuses, Onana will be severely punished by FIFA and banned from playing for Manchester United for a long time," The Sun added.

Liverpool defender Joel Matip previously escaped a FIFA ban after refusing to play for Cameroon at the 2017 and 2020 Africa Cup of Nations. At that time, Matip used the excuse that he had not played for the national team since 2015, so he avoided punishment. Meanwhile, Onana was recently called up to play.

According to The Sun : "This situation could force MU to accept Onana missing at least 6 matches during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. In another case, if MU still accepts Onana's decision to refuse to return to the team, they could also be implicated in the FIFA penalty."