FORMER Super Eagles winger and 1994 AFCON winner, Emmanuel Amuneke has said he was not eligible to vote during the 2023 CAF Player of the Year Award held in Marrakech, Morocco.

Amuneke stated this following the reports that he voted for Mohamed Salah of Egypt ahead of Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen in the 2023 CAF Player of the Year Award.

The former Golden Eaglets coach was seen in a video shared by CAF where he mentioned the name of one of the finalists, Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah, while responding to a question before the award ceremony.

The video gained widespread attention on social media, sparking echoes of disappointment and lack of patriotism by some supporters seething over the outcome.

In the wake of the trending video, Amuneke, in a monitored response on Channels Television station on Sunday, December 17, cleared the air, saying he was not eligible to vote because he is currently not a national coach of any African country or club side.

“The question we need to ask ourselves is whether Emmanuel Amuneke is eligible to vote, there is no way I am able to vote. I am not a national team coach, nor was I engaged in any club. So I never had the opportunity to vote for Osimhen.

“Even when the voting was going on, I was not even aware who voted and who did not vote,” he said.

Responding to the video, he said the discourse was not related to who will emerge as the Africa best player of the year, adding that he responded to the question in context of the discourse.

“The video you people saw circulating. It was a discussion on the bus when we were going to play a game and it was not a discussion about who will become the African Footballer of the Year. It was a discussion about two Arab guys, an Egyptian and a Moroccan and when I was approached, he asked Hakimi or… and I said Salah.

“So it was not about who will be the African Footballer of the year,” he added.