Golden Boy Abdul Razak won the 1978 African Ballon D’OR Award
France Football Magazine previously the organizers of African footballer of the year
CAF took over the organization of the awards in 1994
Ibrahim Sunday and Abdul Razak are winners of the Africa version of Ballon D’OR
The France Football Magazine has been in the news recently following the 2021 Ballon d’OR ceremony held in Paris, France on November 29, 2021.
Lionel Messi and Pedri won the player of the year award and young player of the year award respectively as Gianluigi Donnarumma beat Senegal’s Edouard Mendy to win the Yashin Award.
Liberia President, George Oppong Weah remains the only African to have won the coveted World Footballer of the Year award even though two former Asante Kotoko players have the France Football Magazine organized awards in the past.
Ibrahim Sunday and Golden Boy Abdul Razak won the Ballon d’OR Awards in 1971 and 1978 respectively.
The two legends were decorated with Ballon d’OR plaques which signified their superiority on the continent.
Ibrahim Sunday won the African Ballon D’OR Award after beating his Asante Kotoko teammate Robert Mensah and Cameroon’s Francois Ndoumbe to become the first Ghanaian to win the award after Mali’s Salif Keïta had won the maiden edition in 1970.
Golden Boy Abdul Razak became the second Ghanaian player to achieve the feet seven years later in 1978 after beating Algeria’s Ali Bencheickh and Cameroon’s Thomas Nkono for the coveted trophy.
Even though the award for purposely for Africans, Ibrahim Sunday and Abdul Razak have plaques as Ballon D’OR winners.
The two still remain the only Ghana Premier League players to have won the Africa Ballon D’OR Award now CAF Footballer of the Year Award.