Now Drogba Loves Chelsea Again, But Not CAF

Not so long ago, Didier Drogba was all set to ditch Chelsea. “Something is broken at Chelsea,” remember? Well after a few months under Avram Grant, and after enjoying his new gaffer’s support with the whole knee surgery and Africa Cup of Nations business, Drogba has turned that frown upside down. “What counts is giving 100 per cent in a Chelsea shirt. Today, working in a good atmosphere with a common goal is fantastic,” he now says. “Winning the UEFA Champions League and Premier League – these are the types of challenges that I love and I am happy.” He’s also very excited about hooking up with Nicolas Anelka.

But with one relationship saved, another is soured. Drogba has now fallen out with the Confederation of African Football over their decision to give Fredi Kanoute the African Player of Year Award.

Just to be clear, it’s not that Drogba thinks he deserves to be African Player of the Year and is all pissy that Kanoute got it instead. It’s more that he was told he’d won the award, but then told he couldn’t have it unless he turned up for the ceremony last Friday. Here’s what Drogba told The Telegraph.

In the end I declined to go to the ceremony. I did that for my team-mates and because within the group we had been through an unfortunate death. I was going to send my wife to the awards in case there was a prize to receive, when I was informed by somebody from CAF that she would not be welcomed, and that the rules could change if I wasn’t there and the award be given to the person who had finished second. That shocked me … From now on I’ve decided to withdraw from all voting for CAF awards. It has lost a lot of value in my opinion.

Of course the reason he couldn’t attend the ceremony in Togo was that he busy playing for Cote d’Ivoire in the Africa Cup of Nations. Who organizes the Africa Cup of Nations you ask? The Confederation of African Football of course.

Drogba and fellow nominee Michael Essien were both unable to attend, and Kanoute could only make it because Mali had already been knocked out of the tournament. But what if Mali had made it through to the quarterfinals? Would there be no African Player of the Year?

Clearly this awards ceremony needs to be rescheduled. There’s no sense in giving out awards in the middle of a tournament, especially the recipients are unable to attend and double especially if CAF will only give awards to those who show up. Surely a smarter idea would be to hold the ceremony before the Africa Cup of Nations and in the host country. That way we all know who the winner is going into the tournament and the CAF awards ceremony could be incorporated as part of the pre-tournament build up.

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Category: Africa