Togolese international striker Emmanuel Adebayor has denied making any disparaging comments about reigning African Footballer of The Year Senegal’s Sadio Mane and his Liverpool team mate Mohamed Salah of Egypt.
Several online media outlets had reported that Adebayor had criticized Africa’s football governing body, CAF, due to their history with corruption.
Adebayor was said to have been unhappy with players winning the CAF Player Of The Year award despite not playing on the continent, reportedly saying, ” I distanced myself from African football because of corruption and way of doing things. I only honour my country Togo. And if they invited me to any event that has anything to do with CAF i won’t show up because of the leaders of the organization.
CAF stands for Confederation Of African Football. How Salah and Sadio win (CAF Footballer of year) it is way out of my worst imagination. That award belongs to African(based) players.”
Salah won the award back to back in 2017 and 2018, before Mane became the latest player to win the prestigious accolade last year. The duo also shared the Premier League Golden Boot award last season alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon in a historic feat, scoring 22 goals each, while also guiding Liverpool to three trophies, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Using his Twitter handle Adebayor denied making the comments. “Recently, my attention was drawn to words, relayed by some media and on social networks, on CAF and on my colleagues Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane,” he wrote. “I would just say that these statements are not mine. I have not granted any interviews to any media. Always be careful not to post false information.”
Adebayor himself was crowned African Footballer of The Year in 2008 beating Egyptian Mohammed Abou Trika and Ghana’s Michael Essien to the award. He is currently signed to Paraguayan giants Olimpia where he turns out alongside former City team mate, Roque Santa Cruz.