The Confederation of African Football, Wednesday, named Nigeria’s forward, Victor Osimhen; Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, and 28 others as contenders for the 2023 men’s African Player of the Year awards.
CAF announced the Gala awards billed to be held on December 11, 2023, in Marrakech, Morocco, on their official website.
According to the statement, “A panel of CAF Technical Experts, African Football Legends, and selected media representatives from a number of countries put together the preliminary list for the various categories with the performance of the nominees between November 2022 and September 2023 serving as the period under consideration.
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“Thirty (30) players made the cut for the top prize; CAF African Player of the Year, whilst 20 players have been nominated for the CAF Interclub Player of the Year. Coach of the Year, CAF National Team of the Year and Club of the Year have ten (10) nominees each just as CAF Young Player of the Year – for players under the age of
“For the first time, CAF has introduced the CAF African Goalkeeper of the Year Category (Men and Women) in the prestigious event that seeks to reward and celebrate exceptional Players, Officials and Administrators during the period under review.
“It will be the first time that shot stoppers will be acknowledged for their performances, further expanding the network of winners for the annual event. 10 players have been nominated for the novel award.
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CAF maintained that the ultimate winner of each category will be decided after votes from a voting panel consisting of the CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches and captains of Member Associations and clubs involved in the group.
Full List of Nominees (in alphabetic order by Member Association):
Player of the Year (Men)
- Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund)
- Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli)
- Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)
- Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli)
- Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas)
- Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest)
- Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire and Al Nassr)
- Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille)
- Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids)
- Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
- Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
- Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
- Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham United)
- Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal)
- Serhou Guirassy (Guinea and VfB Stuttgart)
- Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur)
- Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
- Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco and Olympique Marseille)
- Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Galatasaray)
- Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco and Manchester United)
- Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
- Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal)
- Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco and Sevilla)
- Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
- Victor Osimhen (Nigeria and SSC Napoli)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr)
- Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal and Tottenham Hotspur)
- Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
- Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Ferencvaros).
Meanwhile, Osimhen was ranked number 8 in the 2023 Ballon d’Or award which was held in Paris, France on Monday night.
He thus becomes the first Nigerian to make the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or.
The Napoli forward became one of the few Nigerians to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or and went a step further by making the top 10.
Osimhen was in impressive form for the Italian side as they clinched the Serie A title for the first time in 33 years. He won the Pichichi – the highest goalscorer prize – last season as the Naples team emerged winners of the league.
The 24-year-old scored 26 goals to become the first African to win the prize. Osimhen was the highest-ranked player from the continent at this year’s award. The closest is Liverpool and Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah who was ranked 11th.
