ZURICH, April 28 (AFP)--- Bayern Munich defender Sammy Kuffour has lashed out at FIFA presidential candidate Issa Hayatou, blaming the African soccer chief for his failure to win the continent's footballer of the year award.

Kuffour, from Ghana, was touted as favourite for the award on April 16 but lost out to Senegal striker El-Hadji Diouf, from French club Lens.

The 26 year-old Ghanaian told the Swiss tabloid Sonntagsblick he had intially been led to believe he had won the award before travelling to Johannesburg for the prize ceremony earlier this month.

"Hayatou greeted me and congratulated me on the election," he said in the newspaper interview.

But the newspaper said Hayatou later intervened to make sure Kuffour lost out, citing Ghana's support for the Cameroon official's FIFA election rival Sepp Blatter as the reason.

Kuffour had been widely tipped to win the African player of the year award after his part in Bayern Munich's Champions League victory last season.

But he was criticised during the African Nations Cup in Mali earlier this year after being kicked out of Ghana's squad and sent home.

Ghanaian officials later said Kuffour had been a disruptive influence in the team and had complained about accommodation arrangements for the players at the tournament.

He was also suspended for six matches by the German football federation last month after he was sent off during a match between Bayern and Schalke 04 following a head-butting incident.

Kuffour told the newspaper he had never heard of Diouf before. "From what people tell me, he has never achieved anything so far in his career," Kuffour said in a swipe at the Senegalese striker.

Diouf sprang to prominence last year with a host of World Cup qualifying goals. He collected 93 votes in the African poll with Kuffour runner-up with 66 votes and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o receiving 34 to come third for the second consecutive year.

No defender has topped the award since its introduction 32 years ago.