^{Essien set to receive BBC award}

^{By Ibrahim Sannie}

^{BBC Sport, Accra}

^{Ghana midfielder Michael Essien will receive his 2006 BBC African Footballer of the Year Award in Accra on Monday.}

^{The Chelsea ace won the award in January in a vote cast by listeners of the BBC World Service's African sports programme Fast Track.}

^{Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is in no doubt that Essien deserves the award.}

^{"I didn't make Essien Africa's most expensive player, but nobody regrets the money Chelsea spent he's a high-performance player," he said.}

^{"People like to speak about Essien because they think he is a great football player but I prefer to say that he is a great man.}

^{"We're very happy to have him with us and I think Ghana should be very proud about him not just because he is a great player but also he has got good behaviour which is good for society."}

^{Both Mourinho and Essien are in Ghana on a charity visit.}

^{The 25-year-old midfielder adds his name to the roll of honour that includes Ghana's Sammy Kuffour, Senegal's El Hadji Diouf and Nigeria's Jay Jay Okocha, who won the award twice.}

^{Egyptian Mohammed Barakat was the first north African to win the award after clinching the 2005 trophy.}

^{Fast Track presenter Farayi Mungazi is also in Accra to organize the presentation of the award to Essien.}

^{"We at the BBC take pride in this award because it is the only one decided exclusively by the fans," Mungazi explained.}

^{In a live public vote in January, Essien received nearly twice as many votes as Ahly and Egypt playmaker Mohamed Aboutrika and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba.}

^{For the first time in the history of the prize, the winner was decided live during the BBC World Service's flagship African sports programme Fast Track.}

^{The BBC award took into account the football calendar from January to December 2006 and includes domestic leagues, continental club competitions and international matches.}

^{Story from BBC SPORT:}

^{http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1 ... 714879.stm}

Fully deserved in my opinion, what a great signing he turned out to be. Awarded by the fans of African football, and by his team mates at Chelsea. Good on you Michael

Scott