LAGOS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Friday's African Footballer of the Year ceremony will lose another short alisted candidate as Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has been forbidden from flying for it by his coach.
"He certainly is not going to go there," Ghana coach Claude LeRoy told French radio RTL late on Tuesday.
The Chelsea player will be with Ghana playing their African Nations Cup quarterfinal against Nigeria in Accra on Sunday, while the ceremony will be in Lome, Togo on Friday.
Essien has been shortlisted with team mate Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast, Mali midfielder Mahamadou Diarra and striker FredericKanoute and Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor of Togo.
Kanoute has been told not to go as Mali coach Jean Francois Jodar said on Monday that he would not let Kanoute go to the event.
