Kalusha backtracks on Sunzu 'conspiracy'
by Gary Al-Smith 22 December 2012, 06:57
Zambia FA boss Kalusha Bwalya was an angry man last night when Mohammed Aboutreika was named African Based Player of the Year on Thursday, but he has since calmed down.
The legendary former player witnessed live - with millions on television - as Stopilla Sunzu was announced for the award only for the emcees of the event to change tack moments later.
Clearly frustrated, he immediately tweeted: "They announced Sunzu had won but when the show was almost thru, MCs apologised for mistake!! Its crazy. Seems like a conspiracy."
After the program, he went over to the Caf executives to seek clarification, and apparently, the situation was explained to him.
On Friday morning, Bwalya was interviewed on Stage Africa, a popular show on Ghana's state-owned GTV and explained the issue.
"Initially I thought there was a conspiracy by Caf regarding the issue of Sunzu, but it turned out to be a genuine error from the emcees of the show," he explained.
"I was shown Sunzu's plaque, which had already been done like all the others, and it was indeed the Egyptian who had been selected as the winner."
The Ahly playmaker, Aboutreika, who is widely considered as one of the best players in Egypt's history, beat off competition from Zambian duo Rainford Kalaba and Stoppila Sunzu to become the second Egyptian player to clinch CAF's award after Ahmed Hassan, who won it in 2010.
