Jay-Jay Okocha reveals why he never won African Player of the Year

Nigerian football legend Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha has opened up on his failure to win the prestigious African Player of the Year award, suggesting that “football politics” played a role during his illustrious career.

Despite becoming one of Africa's most gifted and influential footballers, Okocha never won the Confederation of African Football (CAF) African Player of the Year award.

Speaking on the ObiOne Podcast, the former Super Eagles captain rejected the suggestion that his failure to join one of Europe's biggest clubs was the main reason he missed out on the prestigious prize.

Okocha was asked whether playing for one of Europe's elite clubs could have improved his chances of winning the award.

The former midfielder was quick to dismiss the idea. “No, no, no, not really,” Okocha said.

Instead, he suggested that factors beyond performances on the pitch influenced the voting during his playing days.

“I can openly say now that then, of course, a lot of football politics was in place,” he explained.

According to Okocha, playing for a major European club and winning important trophies did not necessarily guarantee that a player would receive the individual recognition he deserved.

Okocha pointed to his success in the BBC's African Footballer of the Year award as evidence that he was widely regarded as one of the continent's outstanding players.

He won the BBC award in consecutive years, yet the CAF prize continued to elude him.

“I won BBC Player of the Year twice in a row, but I still didn’t win it,” Okocha said.

He then posed a question that summed up his frustration with the situation: “So what do you need to win?”

Despite his disappointment, Okocha appears to have made peace with the fact that the award never came his way.

Rather than allowing the omission to define his career, the former Bolton Wanderers star believes some achievements simply do not happen regardless of how talented or successful a player becomes.

“When you look at it, some things are not meant to be. The most important thing is, what did you make of your career? What did you get out of your career?” he said.