Africans Betrayed Sadio Mane For Ballon d'Or - Samuel Eto'o

Cameroon footballing legend Samuel Eto'o Fils has blamed African Football stakeholders for the continuous omission of African players from notable global recognition.

Cameroon footballing legend Samuel Eto'o Fils has blamed African Football stakeholders for the continuous omission of African players from notable global recognition.

The four time African Footballer of the Year has played down the choice of his former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi as the Balloon D'or winner as Sadio Mane took fourth position in the voting poll.

Sadio Mane had a tremendous year with Liverpool after he assisted the Merseyside reds to another European triumph in the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League while also leaving an indelible mark in Africa with the Teranga Lions at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations where the Senegalese finished as runners-up.
The 27-year-old former Southampton attacker also finished the English Premier League season calendar as joint top scorer alongside African duo of Mohamed Salah and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.

“ If Sadio Mane won it and was on the podium, no one was going to complain because he deserves it and has been doing well and he had the best season,” Eto’o said as per IOL

“Messi (Lionel) won because all the South Americans voted for him. I think the Europeans also voted for Virgil Van Dijk hence he was the runner-up.”

“Africans didn’t vote for Mane. That’s the big problem. African people have problems with other African people.

“We, as Africans, are letting ourselves down. We need to unite if we are serious about ending the dominance of the Europeans and the South Americans in the race to be crowned the best players in the world.”

George Weah who is the current President of Liberia remains the only African to have won the highly adored award while Sadio Mane is the current and reigning Premier League player for the month of November 2019.

By Olamide Oyetunji Sunday