Former Liverpool defender Rigobert Song has been appointed as Cameroon's new head coach by the country's president, Paul Biya.
Toni Conceicao, who led the national team to third place at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, will be replaced by the 45-year-old.
Song has 137 caps for the Indomitable Lions, becoming him the country's most capped player.
Cameroon, according to a statement, required "a fresh breath."
"The coach of the men's national football team, Mr Antonio Conceicao, has been replaced on very high instructions from the President of the Republic," Cameroon's sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi stated.
"The Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) is invited to take the necessary steps to ensure the swift and harmonious execution of these extremely high guidelines."
The appointment would be exceptional because Fifa statutes require all member associations to remain independent and free of political influence.
Conceicao guided Cameroon to the World Cup qualifying play-offs, and the team will face Algeria in a two-leg series in March for a place in Qatar 2022.
Song, who previously played for West Ham in England and had stints in France, Italy, Germany, and Turkey during his playing career, appeared in four World Cups and won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000 and 2002.
He was most recently the Under-21 coach of Cameroon. Song experienced a "cerebral haemorrhage" in 2016 and had to be airlifted to France for treatment.
Former Congo-Brazzaville, Kenya, and Equatorial Guinea coach Sebastien Migne will assist Song. The Frenchman, formerly of South African club Marumo Gallants, led Kenya to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt.
Souleymanou Haminou, goalie coach, and Raymond Kalla, team manager, round out the technical squad for internationals.
