According to the Confederation of African Football , the GLO-CAF awards is 'a yearly ritual instituted to honour athletes and personalities who has excelled in various departments of the game as well as making meaningful contribution to its development in the continent'.
It goes on to say that 'the awards is bestowed on every individual on pure merit for his or her exemplary contribution towards the development and promotion of football, on and off the pitch within the continent' (Link).
For the 2012 awards, CAF and GLO have produced a shortlist comprising the following five players: Didier Drogba (Shanghai Shenhua/CIV), Yaya Toure (Manchester City/CIV), Alexander Song (Arsenal/Cameroon), Andre Ayew (Marseilles/Ghana) and Demba Ba (Newcastle/Senegal).
What this means is that in a football season in which we had the Africa Nations Cup, Christopher Katongo, the most influential player in the championship winning team , Zambia, does not belong in the top five players in the continent.
This is beyond absurd. It is downright stupid! Especially considering the special circumstances around Zambia's triumph from the ashes of a horrendous plane crash that wiped out its entire team, words cannot describe the extent of stupidity of this decision.
What is wrong with us Africans?
How is it that Demba Ba, who failed miserably with Senegal at the ANC, can qualify to be in the top 5 list of African footballers in 2012, on account of the 'manic football' played in the English Premier League with a mid table team, and yet Katongo is not?
Let us look at Alex Song for a minute. What were his achievements in 2012? Well, lets see:
- he failed to qualify with Cameroon for the ANC
- his team Arsenal failed to win any trophy
- he was voted second (not first!) best player in Arsenal.
That is apparently what qualifies you to be a Top 3 player in Africa in the same year that we had the Africa Nations Cup!
What is wrong with us Africans?
My question to he and his fellow travellers is this: what greater thing do you need to do in African football beyond winning the ANC?
For that matter what has Didier Drogba done since winning the UEFA Champions League besides collecting a generous pension in Shanghai? Incidentally, Juan Mata was Chelsea's 'player of the year' last season....
What is wrong with us Africans? Do we not have any respect for ourselves?
Before anyone accuses me of being dramatic, let us look at the corresponding award in Europe in 2012, in a year that the European Cup was also held. Who won the award?
Andres Iniesta, who like Christopher Katongo also won the best player in the regional tournament!
His award citations read thus: "The FC Barcelona midfielder, who helped Spain defend their UEFA European Championship title this summer, finished ahead of club-mate Lionel Messi..., and Real Madrid CF's Cristiano Ronaldo... The 28-year-old was in inspired form for Spain at UEFA EURO 2012" (Link).
