‘CAF was unfair to Jay-Jay Okocha’

A Senegalese football fan, Alioune Ndiaye, is still bitter over what he described as the “unfair treatment” meted out to Nigerian football legend, Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha, in his dream of winning the CAF African Footballer of the Year award.
 
Although Okocha retired from active football many years ago, the frustration he faced in his bid to become the African Footballer of the Year still remains a big debate among football fans and analysts.
 
On three occasions, Okocha came close to winning the crown. He was second in 1998, just two points behind Morocco’s Mustapha Hadji, and also lost out in both 2003 and 2004 to Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o and Côte d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba, respectively.
 
To prove that Okocha deserved the CAF top prize, he was named the BBC African Player of the Year award consecutively in 2003 and 2004. He was also named the AFCON Best Player in 2004 after he led the Super Eagles to win the trophy in Tunisia.
 
For the Senegalese fan, Alioune Ndiaye, Jay Jay Okocha was a clear victim of dirty football politics. 
  
“Till this moment, I still can’t figure out why a great player like Austin Jay Jay Okocha did not win the African Footballer of the Year Award,” Ndiaye, an e-drive operator, told The Guardian.
 
“I feel Okocha was robbed on two or three occasions, and that has been the problem with CAF. This politics in African football did not just start today.
 
“If I am told to pick the best between Jay Jay Okocha and our own Sadio Mané, I will settle for Jay Jay because I see him as a more complete and technically gifted player. I am not trying to play down the talent of Sadio, but Okocha was too good technically on the pitch. He was the best football dribbler to come from Africa, and to this day, the memories of his great dribbles at PSG and while playing for the Super Eagles remain in my head. I am looking forward to meeting him one day. As I said, the difference between Okocha and our Sadio is that Jay Jay is better technically, while Sadio is quicker with the ball. They are two different players on the pitch. Jay Jay is a great midfielder, and Sadio is quicker in front of goal,” he said.
 
But Ndiaye singled out Sadio Mané as Africa’s best footballer for his humanitarian service both for his native people in Bambali and Senegalese in general.
 
“I don’t know if Jay Jay Okocha was kind enough to use part of his wealth from football to touch people’s lives in Nigeria, but I can say Sadio Mane is number one in Africa.
 
“Anywhere you go in his town, Bambali, Sadio is like a king. He funded and helped open a public hospital that serves Bambali and dozens of surrounding villages, saving residents from travelling long distances for care, and in the area of education, Sadio financed a public secondary school/high school and provided free laptops and internet connectivity. He also funded the construction of a petrol station, a post office, and a stadium/football pitch. Sadio also provides a regular monthly financial stipend to families in his village. I can tell you that Sadio Mane is the direct opposite of players like El-Hadji Diouf in the area of empowering his people. I want other African great footballers to emulate Sadio Mane,” Ndiaye stated.