Category: World
Service
Date: 06.01.2005
Printable version
The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is to reveal who
has won its African Footballer of the Year award later this week.
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Based on votes by listeners to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ African Service and visitors
to bbc.co.uk/africanfootball the winner will be announced on Friday
7 January on the Fast Track programme.
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The process of arriving at the African Footballer of
the Year begins with fans making nominations, and the top five from
this list make it to a short list.
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This year's short-listed African footballers all ply
their trade in Europe:
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Stephen Appiah Β– Ghana, and Juventus of
Italy;
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Didier Drogba - Ivory Coast, and Chelsea of
England;
Samuel Eto 'o Fils Β– Cameroon, and Barcelona of Spain;
Obafemi Martins Β– Nigeria, and Inter Milan of Italy;
Austin 'Jay-Jay' Okocha Β– Nigeria, and Bolton Wanderers
of England.
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Stephen Appiah's sterling performances for Juventus
in the tough Serie A of Italy have earned him his place in the short
list, but will his efforts place him alongside previous Ghanaian winners
Samuel Osei Kuffour and Abedi Ayew Pele?
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Didier Drogba has already picked up one award for his
endeavours in 2004 Β– he was voted player of the year in France
for his heroics with his former club Olympique Marseille.
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Eto 'o Fils has been in scintillating form and his goals
for his club have taken Barcelona to the top of the Spanish League.
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Earlier this year Obafemi Martins declined the opportunity
to play alongside Eto 'o Fils for Cameroon and chose to make his debut
for Nigeria. He has gone on to shine as the team make a bid to qualify
for their fourth successive World Cup finals.
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Austin 'Jay-JayΒ’ Okocha appeared in each of these
finals, and as the current holder of this Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ award, was voted the best
player at this year's African Cup of Nations competition. Can he become
the first player to win this honour twice?
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Fast Track will be broadcast at 16.30 GMT on Friday
7 January and will be repeated at 18.30 GMT on the same day.
Notes to Editors
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service broadcasts programmes around the world
in 43 languages and is available on radio and online.
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It has a global audience of 146 million listeners.
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service is available globally on short wave;
on FM in 140 capital cities; and selected programmes are carried on
around 2,000 FM and MW radio stations around the world.
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The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service websites receive around 280 million
page impressions every month.
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service broadcasts more then 25 hours of programmes
a week specifically for Africa.
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For sports fans, Fast Track offers unrivalled news and
features on African sport.
