By Samuel Ifetoye
Former
Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Kashimawo
Laloko, has expressed sadness over Super Eagles players not picking any
award at the Aiteo CAF Awards held in Accra, Ghana.
Mohamed Salah of
Egypt stole the show, as he won the prize for the best player on the
continent. He defeated Sadio Mane of Senegal and Gabonese Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang to the second and third positions respectively.
Moses finished
fourth in the CAF's award and was conspicuously absent from the Africa
best eleven team selection. The nation's forward and former junior
international, Junior Ajayi, who plays for Egypt's Al Ahly, was among
the All-star team.
Re-stating his displeasure, Laloko said CAF's pattern of voting, is completely different from that of the FIFA, which is better.
"What is realistic
would have been for the CAF technical committee members to select
players that will stand for the final vote. The way CAF does its own is
not the way it is done by FIFA as FIFA allows only members of the
technical committee to pick according to the laid down rules.
"What they do in
CAF is subjective. Moses did well in the year under review, so also Sane
and Salah. Since Salah has been picked, it is their choice, and there
is nothing we can do about that. It means we have to work harder to
convince them next time that our player can be the best in Africa," he
said.
Laloko, who is the
former coach of The Gambia, however, added that CAF's system encourages
sentiment along the Francophone, Anglophone and Arab lines.
"As we can see now,
everybody seems to be holding to his or her own child. The French
speaking countries now vote for their own likewise the English and the
Arabs.
"When we won the
award, here we are talking about players, who are reliable and regular
for their countries and clubs. Our players were absolutely consistent
and good. But now, we are no more there.
"When players like
Rashidi Yekini, Victor Ikpeba, Emmanuel Amuneke and Kanu Nwankwo won the
award, nobody contested it unlike now. We need to start pushing our
players to the world; it is not enough to just discover them from the
grassroots, but to also help them for the world to see them. We have to
help ourselves, but now nobody wants to help anyone," he stated.