Diouf tells irate Senegalese fans to cool it after Messi beats Mane

El-Hadji Diouf, a former Senegalese international and Liverpool player, has advised fans of his compatriot, Sadio Mane, over his loss of the 2019 Ballon d'Or award to Lionel Messi.

Despite having a wonderful season which saw him win the UEFA Champions League, Sadio Mane finished fourth in the award's top four. Sadio Mane finished behind Cristiano Ronaldo who came third and Van Dijk who came second.

The result saw many fans of the Senegalese blame racism and favouritism for his failure to emerge winner of the Ballon d'Or award

“We can’t talk about racism, but only about favouritism,” said El-Hadji Diouf, who played 55 games in three seasons at Anfield and won 70 international caps, told AFP.

Diouf went on to speak on the disadvantage African players face.

“Being an African footballer is of course a handicap, as the main decision-makers and influential media are not from the continent. But Messi deserves it by far. Sadio had an exceptional year but Messi, he is stratospheric,” said Diouf.

Messi edged the vote with 686 points, just seven ahead of Van Dijk. Ronaldo totalled 476 and Mane 347. Only a dozen of the 46 African voters put Mane first. Messi and Van Dijk both collected more first places on the continent.

Messi collected the most total points in Africa with 187. Mane was second on 170. Van Dijk, who dominated voting from European journalists, collected 154 in Africa.

Aboubacry Ba, who used to cover football on the continent for Canal+ Africa, blamed a lack of solidarity by African journalists on the voting panel.

There is “nothing racist, but if African votes went to the continent’s stars, things would be different”, he told AFP. “The Golden Ball is no longer played on the pitch. You have to give it to a player who sells, who amazes, but not only on the field. African voters have not understood that sometimes it is necessary to vote realistically.”

Lassana Camara, a Mauritanian journalist, wrote in Senegalese newspaper Sud Quotidien that he was frustrated by the absence of Africans on the podium.

“We refuse to believe that there is racism,” he said pointing out that Eusebio, Weah, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, all former winners are “all players of colour”.

“But when Africans vote against Africans, we will not see the end of the tunnel tomorrow,” he wrote.