ACCRA - Nominees for the African Player of the Year award must attend the ceremony or they will not be eligible for the prize.
The clarification from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) comes after Didier Drogba was stripped of the title last Friday in favour of Fredi Kanoute after the Chelsea striker failed to turn up at the function in the Togolese capital Lome.
Drogba, his club team-mate Michael Essien and Kanoute were all nominated for the continent's top individual prize.
But the Ivory Coast skipper opted to remain in Ghana and help his side prepare for their African Nations Cup quarter-final tie against Guinea.
"The executive committee of CAF at its meeting held in Accra on February 1, decided that henceforth any player who is absent at its award ceremony will not be taken into consideration in its placements of African Footballer of the Year," said a statement from the governing body.
"This decision was communicated to all those concerned on February 1, 2008 with particular reference to the award ceremony scheduled for Lome, Togo.
"Consequently, the nominees absent at Lome were excluded from consideration for the award of African footballer of the year 2007.
"It is the belief of CAF that the absence of a player at such an important event constitutes lack of respect for the institution, political authorities represented by our various heads of state and millions of African football followers worldwide."
