Didier Drogba has won the African footballer of the Year award given by the Confederation of African Football, and this time it looks like he will actually receive the award.  Drogba received the award for 2006 and won again in 2008 but failed to attend the ceremony – so the award was given to Freddie Kanoute instead.  He won’t be attending the ceremony again this year either, but the confederation has offered to allow a representative to accept the award on his behalf.

Drogba has been on fire this season scoring 19 goals this season and finds himself sitting second in the goal scoring table behind an exceptional Wayne Rooney.  He is having one of his best seasons and certainly deserves the award for his on field performances, as well as his off the pitch charity work.

As always, with major awards there has been some controversy and argument that it should have gone to other players.  One player that looked in the running to win it was Samuel Eto’o, who had an excellent season last year and who was instrumental in Barcelona’s treble winning campaign.

Another footballer who was mentioned in the same breath as these two was Michael Essien, who was arguably a more productive player for Chelsea in the previous season, and who also helped lead Ghana to the Africa Cup of Nations final.  There were also some strong arguments that the award should have gone to Ahmed Hassan for leading Egypt to winning the Africa Cup of Nations, but at the same time Egypt failed to qualify for the World Cup, which somewhat diminished his chances. That being said, however, Drogba has had a tremendous season and certainly deserves the award.

Other awards included:

National Team of the Year: Algeria

Young Player of the Year: Dominic Adiyiah (AC Milan, Ghana U-20)

Best Supporters Club: South Africa Supporters Club

CAF Best XI:

Goalkeeper: Muteba Kidiaba (T.P Mazembe, DR Congo)

Defenders:John Pantsil (Fulham, Ghana); Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth, Algeria); Wael Gomaa (Al-Ahly, Egypt)

Midfielders: Alexander Song (Arsenal, Cameroon); Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana); Seydou Keita (Barcelona, Mali); Yaya Toure (Barcelona, Cote d’Ivoire)

Attackers: Tresor Mputu Mabi (T.P. Mazembe, DR Congo); Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan, Cameroon); Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Cote d’Ivoire)