El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (; born 15 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

. Throughout his career, Diouf played as a winger or a forward. Having started his professional football career in France with Sochaux,

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departme ...

and Lens, Diouf finalised a move to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

prior to the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

for

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

and went on to have a memorable tournament. He has also played in England's top flight for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and Blackburn Rovers before a stint in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

with Rangers. In 2011, he joined

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

side Doncaster Rovers but was released at the end of the 2011–12 season following the club's relegation. He then moved to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

where he spent two seasons. During his nine-year international career, he scored 21 goals in 69 caps, and also garnered considerable notoriety for a series of controversial incidents.

Early life

Born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal, Diouf came from a Serer background of the noble Diouf family.

Club career

Early career

Diouf started his career in France with Sochaux-Montbéliard. He made his debut appearance in a 2–1 win against Bastia on 12 November 1998, before moving to

for the 1999–2000 season. He moved to Lens the following season, spending two years at the

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, "strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of ...

Liverpool

In early June 2002 he was reportedly linked with the English club

who had also just signed his club and international compatriot Salif Diao. The news initially broke following his Man of The Match performance in the opening

FIFA World Cup 2002 The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

1-0 group game vs France, who were the defending World and European Champions and one of the favourites to win the 2002 tournament. Lens initially denied that the signing had been made, but it was finally confirmed on 2 June with an estimated price tag of £10m. His continued impressive performances in the World Cup for Senegal, where they reached the quarter finals, led to much excitement prior to his arrival in England. Diouf was the striker that manager Gérard Houllier hoped would take the Premier League title from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

, after Liverpool had finished in second place the previous season. Diouf won praises for his early games for Liverpool including his first game at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...

where he scored two goals, his first for the club, in a 3–0 win against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 24 August 2002. He started the

2003 Football League Cup Final The 2003 Football League Cup Final was a association football, football match played between Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and Manchester United F.C., Manchester United on 2 March 2003 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of th ...

as Liverpool defeated

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

. Liverpool fans had to wait until March 2003 for Diouf's next goal for Liverpool. That occurred in a 2–0 win against

, in a game where he scored once and provided the assist for the second. The next game saw Diouf play in a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

match against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

at Parkhead which finished 1–1. The game marked a watershed in his career when, in the 87th minute, he spat at a Celtic fan, causing crowd disturbances and Diouf to be interviewed by the

police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

. He received a two match ban and was fined two weeks wages with Liverpool making a donation of £60,000 to a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

charity of Celtic's choice. Diouf failed to score for the remainder of the 2002–03 season or at all in the 2003–04 season which saw him pick up 13

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In th ...

and one

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or dia ...

which came on 7 January 2004 when he was sent-off in a 1–0 away win against Chelsea for fouling Adrian Mutu. By then he had become unpopular due to both his attitude and his lack of goals. Jamie Carragher later said of him "''He has one of the worst strike rates of any forward in Liverpool history. He's the only no. 9 ever to go through a whole season without scoring, in fact he's probably the only no. 9 of any club to do that. He was always the last one to get picked in training''." At the beginning of the 2004–05 season he was loaned to

. At the end of the season-long loan — and after scoring a mere six goals in 80 appearances with only three in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

— Diouf left Liverpool signing permanently for Bolton in the summer of 2005.

Bolton Wanderers

bought Diouf from Liverpool for an undisclosed fee at the start of the 2005–06 season, after they had loaned the player for the 2004–05 season. On 15 September 2005, Diouf scored Bolton's first ever goal in a European competition against

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park a ...

in a

match at the

Reebok Stadium The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming ri ...

. Bolton went on to win the game 2–1. He was largely successful at Bolton and became a fans' favourite due to his flair and direct running. Diouf confirmed in an interview with the BBC that he would be leaving Bolton at the end of the 2007–08 season and that his goal against

on 3 May marked his last appearance at the Reebok Stadium.

Sunderland

Diouf signed for

on 28 July 2008, after Bolton agreed to a transfer fee of £2.63m. He signed a four-year contract at the Stadium of Light after undergoing a medical. Diouf said that he was happy to join Sunderland. Then-manager

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came durin ...

stated he was happy that Diouf had joined Sunderland saying: "El Hadji has always been the kind of player opposition teams and supporters hate. That's why we're delighted to now have him in our squad." Diouf made a promising start for Sunderland but failed to score in any of his sixteen appearances.

Blackburn Rovers

Diouf signed for Blackburn Rovers for a £2 million fee on 30 January 2009, signing a three-and-half-year deal after just six months at the Stadium of Light, rejoining former Bolton manager Sam Allardyce at the club. He was given the number 18 shirt and scored his first goal for the club against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

on 11 March 2009 in a 2–1 win. During the summer transfer window, Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce revealed that Diouf was acquired for £1 million. Diouf scored his first home goal for Rovers at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

in the club's 3–1 victory over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

on 12 September 2009. On 2 January 2010, he was sent off in a 3–1 defeat to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

. On 21 March 2010, Diouf scored the equalising goal against Chelsea in a 1–1 draw at Ewood Park which opened up the 2010 title race. He started the next two Premier League games against Birmingham and Burnley; he then made his fortieth appearance for the club at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect Ar ...

playing against bottom-of-the-league side

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

in a 0–0 draw on 3 April. By the end of the 2009–10 season, he had made 27 appearances, scoring three goals. On 20 August 2011, Blackburn manager Steve Kean confirmed that Diouf was not in his first-team plans, and that he expected him to leave before the end of the 2011–12 transfer window. On 31 August 2011, Blackburn terminated Diouf's contract by mutual consent. He had fallen out with manager Kean after returning late for pre-season training.

Loan to Rangers

On the last day of the 2011 January transfer window, Diouf joined

champions Rangers on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season. He made his debut on 2 February, coming on as a 20th-minute substitute for injured teammate

Lee McCulloch Lee Henry McCulloch (born 14 May 1978) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is the first team assistant manager at Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian. McCulloch was capped on eighteen occasions by the ...

during a 1–0 win over Hearts at Ibrox. He made his first start for Rangers four days later in a 2–2 draw with

in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Sporting CP in the Europa League, netting the opening goal of the game with a header in the 20th minute. He then scored his second goal for Rangers on 13 March in a Scottish Premier League match with

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, again scoring the first goal as Rangers won 2–1. In March 2011 Diouf was part of the Rangers team that won the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

after a 2–1 win over rivals

. Diouf also collected an SPL winners medal as Rangers performed a comeback from two points behind Celtic to win the league by one point.

Doncaster Rovers

In October 2011, Diouf was handed a trial by West Ham United and their manager, Sam Allardyce, his manager at both Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. On 28 October it was announced that Diouf would not be joining the club because of a lack of fitness and his bad reputation. Allardyce later confirmed that the depth of feeling amongst fans was taken into account in his decision not to sign the player. On 31 October 2011, Diouf signed for Doncaster Rovers on a three-month contract. He scored his first two goals for Doncaster against

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

at Portman Road on 5 November 2011, earning Man of the Match honours and a 3–2 victory. He took the captain's armband in a goalless draw against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

but a training injury meant he was unable to play the following games. On 2 February 2012, Diouf signed a six-month deal with the view to an extra year. After Doncaster were relegated from The Championship, On 25 April 2012, Diouf was believed to have held talks with

with a view to signing him at the end of his Doncaster contract. Diouf claimed on 26 April he was very keen on moving to Leeds despite Leeds manager,

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

, having previously described him as "lower than a sewer rat" for an incident involving Jamie Mackie. On 19 July 2012, it was announced that Diouf would not face charges for assault after being arrested following an incident in a

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

nightclub in April.

Leeds United

On 9 August 2012, Diouf joined

on trial and started training with the first team. Diouf was confirmed to have signed a non-contract deal with Leeds United on 11 August. Diouf appeared as a substitute in the second half for Leeds against Shrewsbury Town in the League Cup on 11 August. Diouf made his league début for Leeds as a first-half substitute in their 1–0 victory against

. He made his first start for Leeds in their 2–1 victory over Peterborough United on 25 August. On 1 September, Diouf scored his first goal for Leeds in a 3–3 draw against his former club Blackburn Rovers. After the match it was announced that Diouf had signed a permanent contract at Leeds until January 2013. Diouf revealed that he had turned down more lucrative offers from elsewhere to become 'a legend' at Leeds by helping them reach the Premier League. Diouf put in an impressive performance for Leeds' 2–1 victory against Premiership side Everton on 25 September. After the match, manager

described Diouf as his 'matador' and that Diouf had made promises to stay at the club beyond his initial six-month contract. Diouf scored a brace against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

to help earn Leeds a 3–2 victory on 29 September. Diouf was named captain against his old side

in a 2–2 draw on 2 October. Diouf scored his fourth goal of the season on 30 October in a 3–0 League Cup win against Premier League side Southampton F.C. to help Leeds advance to the quarter-finals of the competition. Diouf scored his milestone 5th goal of the season with a penalty to help earn Leeds a 2–2 draw against

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on 2 November. On 14 December 2012, Diouf signed a new 18-month deal at the club taking him until the end of the 2013–14 season. He scored his 7th goal of the season against

on 27 April, but received his first red card as a Leeds player for celebrating it with a rude 'gesture' towards the Brighton fans. In May 2013, after Guinea club AS Kaloum claimed to have signed Diouf, Leeds United and Diouf strenuously dismissed the claim as 'complete rubbish,' stating that Diouf would be playing for Leeds in the 2013–14 season. Diouf was ruled out of the entire 2013–14 pre-season due to a shin infection. On 15 August 2013, the ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' reported that Diouf had been made available for transfer. In December 2013, it was revealed that Diouf had missed several Leeds fixtures and training sessions due to unspecified 'personal problems', and in order to attend the funerals of former mentor and

coach

Bruno Metsu Bruno Jean Cornil Metsu (28 January 1954 – 15 October 2013) was a French footballer and football manager. During his senior playing career from 1973 to 1987, he played for seven different clubs in his native France. From 1988 until his death, ...

and former

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nat ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

. Diouf made his first start for Leeds in several months on 28 January in a 1-1 draw against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

. It was to be his final game for the club. On 16 May 2014, Diouf was released.

Sabah FA

In November 2014, Diouf signed a one-year contract with Malaysian side

Sabah FA Sabah Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a football club with ownership by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The football club competes in Malaysia's football league representing the state of Sabah in Borneo. They currently compete in ...

of the Malaysia Premier League, and was named team captain. However, Diouf soon found himself embroiled in controversy with his new club after comparing it unfavourably with rival club Johor Darul Takzim II F.C. during an interview with Johor TV. Diouf was reported to have said that "he is willing to build a JDT academy on his own land in Senegal and JDT will get the monetary returns from the proceed of selling players to European countries. He also said that he is willing to play for JDT without any money because of his love for the state of

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares mariti ...

as well as being impressed by the vision and mission of the club". Diouf said this was due to the lack of vision and mission by Sabah Football Association (SAFA). Deeming this behaviour "unprofessional," Sabah stripped Diouf of the captaincy in July 2015.

International career

Diouf's international career started in April 2000 against

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

. He has earned 69 international caps and scored 21 goals for his country. He played for

in their

campaign and was elected to the World Cup All-Star team, after leading Senegal to the quarter-finals and victories over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(1–0) and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

(2–1). Senegal eventually lost 1–0 in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. He was also part of the Senegal team who were the runners-up in the

2002 African Cup of Nations The 2002 African Cup of Nations was the 23rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Mali. Just like in 2000, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. C ...

, but was one of the players who missed a penalty during the shootout in the final as they lost to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

. Diouf was banned from international football for four matches in 2004 for a verbal assault on referee

Ali Bujsaim Ali Mohamed Bujsaim ( ar, علي بوجسيم, born September 9, 1959 in Dubai) is a retired association football referee from the United Arab Emirates, who is best known for supervising matches at three FIFA World Cups: 1994 File:1994 Events C ...

. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA ...

in conjunction with

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

's centenary celebrations. In October 2007, Diouf retired from international football, stating he had been frustrated by organisational problems with the side. However, Senegal coach Henryk Kasperczak announced later in the month that he would name Diouf in the next squad. In 2011 Diouf was banned for five years from playing for the Senegal national side, after reacting angrily to claims that he had failed to attend a disciplinary hearing. In September 2012, The Senegal Football Federation confirmed that Diouf's five-year ban had been decreased and that he was available to play for the Senegal national side again. After becoming available for the Senegal national side, in October 2012 Diouf was left out of the squad to face Côte d'Ivoire in an African Cup of Nations qualifier, Diouf proclaimed that he felt he was left out of the squad because the Senegal federation were 'scared' of him. Diouf was twice named the African Footballer of the Year.

Controversies

In France

Diouf's professional career has at times been overshadowed by controversy. During his time at Sochaux, he was involved in a succession of minor transgressions. This resulted in the move to Rennes, where he was convicted for driving without a licence, and was involved in a car crash. Taking into account his age and evident remorse, the French courts sentenced Diouf to community service.

In England

Several times during his early Premier League career, Diouf was accused of spitting at fans and opposition players. In 2002, he was accused of spitting at West Ham United fans while warming up as a substitute for Liverpool during a game at

. An investigation by Merseyside Police found no evidence that an offence had been committed, but that Diouf had spat on the ground. On 13 March 2003, while playing for Liverpool, he was involved in an incident when he spat at

fans during a televised UEFA Cup quarter-final. His club fined him two weeks' wages, UEFA gave him a two-match ban, and Diouf was charged with assault. Although Diouf initially pleaded not guilty, he later changed his plea to guilty, and was fined £5,000. In November 2004 while on loan to Bolton, Diouf was charged by the police for spitting at an 11-year-old Middlesbrough fan during a 1–1 draw. Then, on 27 November 2004, Diouf spat in the face of

player Arjan de Zeeuw. Bolton fined him two weeks' wages and the FA banned him for three games after he pleaded guilty to a charge of improper conduct. Bolton manager Sam Allardyce later revealed that he considered sending Diouf to see a sports psychologist. On 20 September 2009, Diouf was questioned by police after allegations that he had made a racial slur to a ball-boy during a match at Everton, telling him to "fuck off, white boy". Diouf defended his actions by saying that the ball-boy had thrown the ball to him "like a bone to a dog" and that Everton fans were racially abusing and throwing bananas at him. Police found no evidence of this. In April 2010, Diouf was arrested and charged with motoring offences in Manchester. On 8 January 2011, following Blackburn's 1–0 win over

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

in the FA Cup third round, QPR manager

accused Diouf of taunting Jamie Mackie whilst the latter lay on the pitch injured with a broken leg and referred to Diouf as "lower than a sewer rat". On 14 July 2011, it was reported that Diouf had not joined Blackburn Rovers for a pre-season tour of Austria and that his whereabouts were unknown. The club stated that disciplinary measures would be taken against him. On 15 April 2012, Diouf and five other men were arrested following reports of a nightclub brawl in Manchester. One man was seriously injured and Diouf was bailed for a week. On 27 April 2013, Diouf was shown a controversial red card at Elland Road after making offensive gestures towards the

away fans.

In Scotland

In February 2011, Diouf became embroiled in an argument with

Captain Scott Brown after several on pitch altercations with Brown in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Neil Lennon and dissent to the referee at full-time. Diouf was fined £5,000 in April 2011 and warned over his future conduct by the Scottish Football Association.

After football

In 2017, Diouf, was in

working as a government goodwill ambassador and adviser on sport to Senegalese President

Macky Sall Macky Sall (, wo, Maki Sàll, fuc, 𞤃𞤢𞤳𞤭 𞤅𞤢𞤤‎, italic=no, Maki Sal; born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who has been President of Senegal since April 2012. He was re-elected President in the first round vot ...

, and running his own sports newspaper and a gymnasium.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Liverpool *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

: 2002–03 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA C ...

runner-up:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Rangers *

: 2010–11 *

: 2010–11 Senegal *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internat ...

runner-up:

Individual * African Footballer of the Year: 2001, 2002 *

BBC African Footballer of the Year The BBC African Sports Personality of the Year (previously known as the BBC African Sports Star of the Year and the BBC African Footballer of the Year) was an annual award given to the best African sports personality of the year as voted by the B ...

: 2002 *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

All-star team:

* FIFA 100

References

External links

*
Player profile at LFChistory.net

Bolton Wanderers Profile
a
Burnden Aces
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diouf, El Hadji 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Dakar Sportspeople from Saint-Louis, Senegal Association football forwards Senegalese footballers Senegalese Muslims Serer sportspeople Senegal international footballers Senegalese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in England FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Stade Rennais F.C. players RC Lens players Liverpool F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) players Ligue 1 players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players African Footballer of the Year winners FIFA 100 Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Scotland