AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR: POSTPONED!
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AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR: POSTPONED!
African Footballer of the Year decision postponed
By Mark Gleeson
TUNIS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The list of candidates for the 2003 African Footballer of the Year award has been cut to three but the Confederation of African Football has reversed its decision to name the winner on Friday.
Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, the Ivorian striker Didier Drogba and Nigerian midfielder Jay-Jay Okocha are the three finalists, but the winner will not now be named until April 30 in Yaounde.
CAF officials blamed "technical hitches" but organisers of the annual African awards gala said it was because the event sponsor wanted the winner to be unveiled in Cameroon.
Last month, the CAF named five finalists but Obafemi Martins of Inter Milan and Tunisian international Hatem Trabelsi failed to make the last three.
However, Nigerian sensation Martins has been named as one of the three candidates for the Young Player of the Year title despite his shunning the African Nations Cup finals, which start in Tunis on Saturday.
The other finalists are Kolo Toure of Arsenal and Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Steven Pienaar.
Organisers said the award was for players aged under 21 but then changed their statement when it was pointed out at Friday's media conference that Toure will turn 23 in March.
Eto'o is among the senior finalists for the third successive year and is the favourite after helping Cameroon to the final of the Confederations Cup in France.
Okocha's inclusion is a surprise as is that of Drogba, who has only burst into the limelight since signing for French club Marseille in August.
The title has been won for the last two years by Liverpool and Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf.
By Mark Gleeson
TUNIS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The list of candidates for the 2003 African Footballer of the Year award has been cut to three but the Confederation of African Football has reversed its decision to name the winner on Friday.
Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, the Ivorian striker Didier Drogba and Nigerian midfielder Jay-Jay Okocha are the three finalists, but the winner will not now be named until April 30 in Yaounde.
CAF officials blamed "technical hitches" but organisers of the annual African awards gala said it was because the event sponsor wanted the winner to be unveiled in Cameroon.
Last month, the CAF named five finalists but Obafemi Martins of Inter Milan and Tunisian international Hatem Trabelsi failed to make the last three.
However, Nigerian sensation Martins has been named as one of the three candidates for the Young Player of the Year title despite his shunning the African Nations Cup finals, which start in Tunis on Saturday.
The other finalists are Kolo Toure of Arsenal and Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Steven Pienaar.
Organisers said the award was for players aged under 21 but then changed their statement when it was pointed out at Friday's media conference that Toure will turn 23 in March.
Eto'o is among the senior finalists for the third successive year and is the favourite after helping Cameroon to the final of the Confederations Cup in France.
Okocha's inclusion is a surprise as is that of Drogba, who has only burst into the limelight since signing for French club Marseille in August.
The title has been won for the last two years by Liverpool and Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf.
Thank you
Ayton Senna wrote:On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit.' As soon as you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high - Ayton Senna
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