Nigerian
footballer wins ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ award
Nigeria
captain Jay-Jay Okocha has been selected as the
2003 ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ African Footballer of the Year.
The
award, which is decided by listeners of Fast Track on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World
Service and readers of the , saw Okocha polling 8,000 of the total
of 21,000 votes cast.
It
is the first international award the 30-year-old midfielder has
won in his playing career.
"I've
been expecting something like this for a very long time," Okocha
told the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Sport website.
"I
got to a stage where I thought that I will never win an award, so
I am very happy to be recognised in this way."
Okocha
joined English Premiership club Bolton Wanderers in the 2002 season.
He said he is very appreciative of the support he has received from
African fans throughout his career.
"I
really thank them for their votes and support over the years. I
have always received encouraging letters from them and I hope that
I will keep on playing well in order to pay them back for their
faith in me," Okocha said.
Okocha,
who beat Ghanaian player Stephen Appiah and Cameroon striker Samuel
Eto'o Fils to the award, said both footballers were worthy ambassadors
of the African game in Europe.
"They
are two good footballers, especially Appiah, who is really coming
up. We didn't know much about Appiah before but now that he has
a regular shirt with Juventus this season he has really shown what
he is capable of.
"As
for Eto'o, we all know that he has been consistent for his club
and country over the last few years."
Okocha
said he hopes that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ award will be the prelude to winning
the Caf (African Confederation of Football) African Footballer of
the Year title, which he lost to Morocco's Mustapha Hadji in 1998.
Notes
to Editors
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
World Service broadcasts programmes around the world in 43 languages
and is available on radio and online.
It
has a global audience of 150 million listeners.
African
Nations Cup 2004 on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ (06.01.04)
All
the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s digital services are now available on ,
the new free-to-view digital terrestrial television service, as well
as on satellite and cable. Freeview
offers the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s eight television channels, interactive services
from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½i, as well as 11 national ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ radio networks.
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