The former Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur forward unleashed all his fury at Liverpool pair Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in a bizarre tirade.
South African publication Kick Off reported that Adebayor has called out Confederation of African Football (CAF) for naming players who ply their trade away from the continent as African Player of the Year - as they have done with Mane and Salah.
Odd
He used some odd reasoning to reach this conclusion, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise to those used to the Togo international’s outbursts.
It comes at a time when his name was beginning to lose all significance in the English game. The 36-year-old last featured in the Premier League for Crystal Palace in 2016 and has spent time in Turkey and Paraguay since then.
Emmanuel Adebayor has since denied the claims, as all people tend to one when they backfire. It would be better for everyone if it turned out to be made up, because his rant bordered on the incoherent.
Doesn’t Make Sense
Adebayor seems to believe that the African Player of the Year award should belong to someone based on the continent, which conveniently ignores the fact that he won it in 2013 while at Tottenham.
But he would have a point if the selection criteria didn’t specifically mention that this award is for the best African, who could be playing anywhere in the world, not the best player based in Africa.
New Award?
While that would open things up to every nationality based on the continent, it wouldn’t necessarily mean the winner each year was African. And I’m not sure that’s Adebayor’s point.
Perhaps if he would like to see this award, the former Premier League star should help CAF set one up solely for the region’s best player. And if Salah or Mane win that while they’re playing outside of Africa, he can rant again.