On 4th January, 2001, Ghana’s Samuel Kuffour was named BBC African Player of the Year. He beat Sierra Leone’s Mohammed Kallon and Senegal’s El Hadj Diouf to the title.
Thousands of fans took part in the online poll, with Kuffour gaining 55% of the votes cast.
How they finished
1 – Samuel Kuffour (Ghana)
2 – Mohammed Kallon (Sierra Leone)
3 – Al Hadj Diouf (Senegal)
Kuffour, who was playing for Bayern Munich at the time told the BBC he was delighted with the award.
“Today is the fourth, I am the fourth born in my family, and I always wear shirt number four!”, he said.
He was the favourite to win the award after having contributed massively to the successs story of the Bavarian giant in the year 2001.
Kuffour was a key part of the Bayern Munich team that won the European Cup in May 2001 and which landed the Bundesliga title. He also scored the only goal in the World Club Cup Final against Argentina’s Boca Juniors.
Former winners of the BBC African Footballer of the year
Year Winner Club
1991 Abédi Pelé Marseille
1994 Zambia
1995 George Weah Milan
1996 Emmanuel Amuneke Sporting CP / Spain Barcelona
1997 Nwankwo Kanu Internazionale
1999 Nwankwo Kanu Arsenal
2000 Patrick Mboma Cagliari /Parma
2001 Samuel Kuffour Bayern Munich
2002 El Hadji Diouf Lens / Liverpool
2003 Jay-Jay Okocha Bolton Wanderers
2004 Jay-Jay Okocha Bolton Wanderers
2005 Mohamed Barakat Al-Ahly
2006 Michael Essien Chelsea
2007 Emmanuel Adebayor Arsenal
2008 Mohamed Aboutrika Al-Ahly
2009 Didier Drogba Chelsea
2010 Asamoah Gyan Sunderland
2011 André Ayew Marseille
2012 Christopher Katongo Henan Construction
2013 Yaya Touré Manchester City
2014 Yacine Brahimi Granada CF / FC Porto
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