The Confederation of African Football (CAF) says the expulsion of Ghanaian star Samuel Osei Kuffour from the 2002 Nations Cup in Mali has not diminished his chances of winning the coveted title of the African Football of the Year.

CAF inside sources disclosed to Graphic Sports in Sagou on Thursday that the winner had already been selected and last Tuesday’s expulsion, which he described as “purely Ghanaian internal matter,” would have no effect on it.

The source described as mere speculation, French media reports that the winner is Senegalese international, El-Hadj Ousseynou Diouf and reiterated that the front runners are Kuffour and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o Fils.

He indicated however, that the winner would not be known to the public till April when CAF honours him at a banquet in South Africa.

Asked what his reaction would be if the winner turns out to be Diouf, the official only said he would be most surprised and explained that Diouf, the professional who plays with Lens of France, is yet to attain the stature of Africa’s topmost player.

He explained that the 21-year-old Senegalese hit the international limelight barely three months ago and though a great potential, his role in his country’s historic qualification for the 2002 World Cup finals cannot be the only measure.

Narrowing the struggle down to Kuffour and Eto’o the source said from the 1991 Under-17 World Cup finals in Italy, where he was discovered, the Ghanaian has built a consistent career and remained a World Class player through the Under-20 and the Under-23 competitions, crowning it with an Olympic bronze.

He said as a professional player, the Ghanaian has consistently been a great influence, particularly on Bayern Munich, one of the biggest clubs in the World, and the past year has been particularly outstanding.

He said through the age competitions, Eto has been equally consistent, reaching the highest point of it all with gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The Cameroonian, he said, was also profound influence in his country’s qualification for the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan/Korea.

On the unprecedented spate of expulsions at the ongoing Nations Cup finals in Mali, he said CAF would make no official pronouncement on it since they are all internal matters.

He, however, hailed the stand of team officials in insisting that African players exhibit the same standard of discipline when playing for their countries as they do when they play for their clubs abroad.

“We don’t say don’t negotiate your bonuses; we don’t say don’t have any differences. What we say is that negotiate your bonuses at home but when you come here, play the game according to the rules of your team and the competition,” he concluded.

So far, four players, including Kuffour and Morocco’s Ouaddou Abdeslam who plays at Fulham, have been thrown out of the CAN 2002.

The latest to be expelled by his team officials is Shabani Nonda, the Burundian-born player of Congo DR, all for various acts of indiscipline.