Emmanuel Amuneke has cleared the air over suggestions that he backed Mohamed Salah ahead of Victor Osimhen to be crowned 2023 CAF Player of the Year.
Amuneke was seen in a video on social media apparently endorsing Salah for the award.
However, the 1994 CAF Player of the Year gave a more detailed context to his choice of Salah in the video.
“First of all, I want you to understand the rumours that you guys are [spreading] concerning me not voting Osimhen. I was never elected to vote,”
“On our way to the novelty game that we played in Marrakech, a former player and captain of the Egyptian national team – who is preparing himself to become a TV producer in Egypt – with his group, he was debating on the Arabian team and he raised the question between Hakimi and Salah.
There was no time Osimhen was mentioned in that discussion. “He came to me and asked ‘Hakimi or Salah’. I have to say Salah. And the reason why I said Salah was because I played in Egypt and I lived in Egypt and I know some of the guys there.”
Amuneke continued: “So, there is nothing like voting against Osimhen.
“Osimhen is our player and our boy. We are happy about what he has achieved and we hope he would continue to dream and achieve more for the betterment of his career and the betterment of Nigeria. “It has come a time in our culture in Nigeria – with all due respect to you guys, we should stop spreading false news and stop creating false impression to the people.