Mninawa Ntloko
6 February 2008
opinion
Johannesburg — SUCH is the sheer incompetence of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) that this cabal of bunglers should not even be allowed to run a bath.
Caf and the words dunderheads, dimwits, mediocrity, chaos, bias, shambles, among a host of others, have been mentioned in the same sentences so many times over the years that hardly anyone has confidence in the organisation supposedly running the sport on this continent.
This is why we were hardly shocked when it emerged this week that the selection of the 2007 African Footballer of the Year award may have been preceded by the kind of shenanigans that would embarrass even a Mafia racket operator.
Cote d'Ivoire and Chelsea star Didier Drogba stunned the world when he said he did not win the 2007 African Footballer of the Year award because he refused to leave his squad smack in the middle of the African Nations Cup to make an eight-hour trip from Ghana to Togo.
Apparently some high-ranking Caf dunderhead phoned Drogba on the eve of this past Friday's awards ceremony and told him that he had won the award .
But the condition was that the Cote d'Ivoire captain be present at the ceremony in Togo if he entertained hopes of retaining an award he won in 2006.
Drogba rightfully pointed out that as his team's captain, he could not just dump his team-mates while Cote d'Ivoire was preparing for the quarterfinal match against Guinea, which was a mere 48 hours after the awards shindig. But the Caf caller would hear none of it and told Drogba that if he didn't show up to pick up the bloody award in person, then Mali's Frederic Kanoute would suddenly win this thing.
Drogba elected to put his country's interests ahead of his own and refused to attend the ceremony. And, lo and behold, we woke up to the news that Kanoute had been voted as the 2007 African Footballer of the Year -- much against expectations, it has to be added. Crazy, isn't it?
The most laughable part of all this is that Caf would have us believe that voting for the award is conducted by national coaches from 53 African countries. But as it turned out, voting was actually conducted by a roomful of conniving Caf administrators.
Drogba's claims aside, it has become blatantly clear that Caf president Issa Hayatou and his cronies are running an operation that is about as organised as a preschool marbles contest.
What other organisation in the world decides to abandon its flagship tournament -- the 2008 African Nations Cup -- halfway into the event and then proceeds to host a counter-attraction in another country?
Apparently, these Caf gungus wanted to present the Togo president with some kind of award and they decided that it would be a good idea to host the whole ceremony in his country.
So, not content with reducing the image of the continent to that of a zoo, Hayatou and his cronies have now seemingly turned their attention to the African Footballer of the Year award. All of which leads us to the way this award has always been run in the past.
Caf have never hidden their bias for everything Francophone, and we've often wondered why the majority of previous winners have come from that neck of the woods.
Drogba maintains that he does not want to be nominated for future African Footballer of the Year awards because the whole thing is a sham.
Of course, some could always say that this is just a bad case of sour grapes, and Drogba is simply throwing his toys out of his cot because he didn't win.
But this is Caf we're talking about here, and this kind of embarrassing mayhem is right up their alley.
Ntloko is deputy sports editor
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I am very much suprised to learn that the process of selecting the African footballer of the year is so scrappy. In as much as I do appreciate the Kanoute award, I am equally disappointed to learn that Drogba was already informed that he won the award.
What is actually becoming of our Continent. Does it mean we cannot organize anything that is free of corruption?
If Drogba cannot go to Togo because he was so loyal to his country, I see no reason why he could not be awarded in absential.
There is no doubt that Drogba… [Read Full Text]
I am african.. though i left africa as a young man.. i am deeply attached to the Continent of my ancestry.. every time i read these kinds of stories about Africa it really pains me... I cannot think of anything left sacred and devoid of corruption in Africa and it is just frustrating... The President of CAF should resign immediately, he is a shame for anyone who cares about this continent and the African Press should aggressively pursue this.. not so much for the fact of the story but for the symptom that it represents.. Corruption, unaccountability, incompetence… [Read Full Text]
This is the way we run our football and it's a shame. Drogba himself should shut up, lately he's acting like a future politician and is talking too much than playing football. This problem should be sorted out indoors instead of coming out publicly and put african football in this shame.
What kinds of comment is this. What kind of political post is Drogba running for? President of Africa? That would be the most corrup institution on the whole planet.
How does your comment relate to the story at hand. The point is CAF is run by corrupt, incompetent and shameless people... You are saying this is OK because Drogba is using his popularity in his home country to promote peace among its inhabitants just coming out of a civil war... and you deduct from that that it is ok for cup to be incomptent.. if you represent the average african… [Read Full Text]
This is a shame for Hayatou. I hope it is not true. We are trying to support CAF from being imposed by Europeans on how to schedule the African Cup of Nations. It is sad if this is how the federation is run. However I do not agree that French speaking countries can impose anything. There is a good number of English and Arabic speaking countries that can oppose any colonial related mentality or policy. As Africans we should not care about which European language we use as they are all a colonial legacy. What is important is what we… [Read Full Text]
I am african.. though i left africa as a young man.. i am deeply attached to the Continent of my ancestry.. every time i read these kinds of stories about Africa it really pains me... I cannot think of anything left sacred and devoid of corruption in Africa and it is just frustrating... The President of CAF should resign immediately, he is a shame for anyone who cares about this continent and the African Press should aggressively pursue this.. not so much for the fact of the story but for the symptom that it represents.. Corruption, unaccountability, incompetence… [Read Full Text]
I am very much suprised to learn that the process of selecting the African footballer of the year is so scrappy. In as much as I do appreciate the Kanoute award, I am equally disappointed to learn that Drogba was already informed that he won the award.
What is actually becoming of our Continent. Does it mean we cannot organize anything that is free of corruption?
If Drogba cannot go to Togo because he was so loyal to his country, I see no reason why he could be awarded in absential.
There is no doubt that Drogba is… [Read Full Text]