Why We Looked Into This? »👀
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Background to the Award
The African Footballer of the Year was initially organised by France Football magazine in 1970 until 1992 when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) took over the award. Of the 31 editions of the CAF African Footballer of the Year award held so far, only 12 countries have produced winners. Only five nations have won more than once, mainly from West Africa. The list is mainly made up of strikers, wingers, and attacking forwards – highlighting the role goal scoring plays in winning the award. No defender or goalkeeper has won the award.
Analysis of The Data – Winners by Nation
Nigeria’s dominance of the award is evident in its unique position of 7 wins, but Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon also show strength in producing multiple winners. The list below is the countries that won the award more than once:
- Nigeria: 7 wins (6 players)
- Cote d’Ivoire: 6 wins (2 players)
- Cameroon: 5 wins (2 players)
- Senegal: 4 wins (2 players)
- Egypt: 2 wins (1 player)
What is unique about this data is that Nigeria is the only country which had 6 different players winning the award compared to other countries where 2 players have earned their respective countries the award more than once. Kanu Nwankwo is the only Nigerian player who won the award twice but played for different football clubs (Ajax Amsterdam of Netherlands in 1996 and Inter Milan of Italy in 1999) when he won the award. Yaya Toure of Côte d’Ivoire stands out, not only for his four awards, the most by any winner but also achieving this while exclusively representing Manchester City. Samuel Eto’o shares the distinction of having the most awards, tying as one of the top recipients of this honor.
West Africa leads in producing top talent, accounting for 68% of the wins, while Central Africa contributes 19% and North Africa makes up 13%.
Club Performance and Player Success: Influence of European Leagues
A significant factor affecting players’ chances of winning the CAF African Footballer of the Year is their league of play. All winners of the CAF African Footballer of the Year award played for clubs based in Europe.
Data reveals the following:
- English Premier League (EPL): 13 winners
- Serie A (Italy): 6 winners
- La Liga (Spain): 4 winners
- Ligue 1 (France): 4 winners
- Primeira Liga (Portugal): 2 winners
- Bundesliga (Germany) and Eredivisie (Netherlands): 1 winner
The data shows a direct correlation between playing in European leagues and winning the award, highlighting the difficulties local players face in gaining continental recognition. Manchester City and Liverpool, both football clubs from England have led the way, producing five and four winners, respectively and emphasizing the dominance of the English Premier League in generating African Footballer of the Year winners.
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