The Confederation of African Football (CAF) had planned to give the award to the Chelsea forward but decided not to after he said he would not travel to the Togolese capital to collect it, Ivory Coast team spokesman Jean-Claude Djacus told Reuters.

Drogba is currently playing in the African Nations Cup in Ghana with Ivory Coast who have reached the semi-finals.

The award went to Mali striker Frederic Kanoute.

"CAF has brought itself into disrepute," Djacus said. "They called Didier on the eve of the ceremony to tell him they would give the award to Kanoute if he did not come. Didier is now saying that he does not want to be part of the 2008 vote."