The question is not 'Why did Adebayor win it?' because the answer would be: Team managers made the vote. So I'd rather say 'Why was Abou-Treika shortlisted alongside Adebayor in the first place? And where is Samuel Eto'o?! First of all, this is not another article lamenting 'Egypt's loss' after Abou-Treika's eagerly-awaited African Footballer of the Year title had gone with the wind. CAF's selection to Abou-Treika is undoubtedly related to his achievements with club and country inside the Dark Continent, while Adebayor was named after a fine individual season at Arsenal, that's it. So, was this a contest between the best African footballer inside the continent and another playing overseas? Here we would say it is unfair for the Egyptian. If it's about international achievements, Adebayor's four goals against Swaziland are no match to Abou-Treika's exploits with Egypt, and if it's about the player's contribution to his club, then the latter would win this one as well. Is it about goals? Then the story would take another twist as we would raise the question of: Where is Samuel Eto'o? Since it is called the '2008 CAF Footballer of the Year award', then we are talking about the 'year' 2008, not the 2007-2008 season.
The conclusion is: CAF must be the biggest loser because they are unintentionally telling the world that the English Premier League is of higher importance than their top competitions; the African Cup of Nations and the CAF Champions League. At club level, which is supposedly Adebayor's major asset, the Togolese scored 23 goals in 2008 and Arsenal finished last season empty-handed by the way. Ironically, Eto'o spent most of Barcelona's campaign on the sidelines, yet he managed the same amount throughout the year. Now let's compare Adebayor's international season to that of Eto'o, who was shockingly ignored by the so-called African football governing body, even in the preliminary five-man list. Eto'o led Cameroon to the CAN 2008 final, finishing top scorer in Ghana last January. Adebayor's Togo did not make the competition! Maybe CAF chose Ade because he scored four World Cup qualifiers goals, all against the mighty Swaziland. Well, Eto'o is currently the qualifiers top scorer with six goals. However, Eto'o's major achievement of the year was his amazing record-breaking feat of being the African Cup of Nations all-time leading goal scorer, yet, CAF overlooked the historic feat when they should've publicized it for their own good. The conclusion is: CAF must be the biggest loser because they are unintentionally telling the world that the English Premier League is of higher importance than their top competitions; the African Cup of Nations and the CAF Champions League. They are also sending a message to all African footballers: Don't ever dream of winning a major award as long as you are playing inside our continent.
