Shocking! No Nigerian In CAF Awards Men’s Category

Nigerian men footballers have been relegated to the spectators’ stands as none of them make the latest cut as the initial shortlist is pruned. 

Moses Simon who made the initial 30-man list has fallen out in the latest 10-man list that features heavyweight players that include past winners such as Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez.

Also, Akinkunmi Amoo of FC Copenhagen who made the initial 10 -man list has been screened out in the latest five-man list in the Young Player of the Year Award. 

The Awards will hold on 21 July in Rabat as a sideline to the ongoing WAFCON.

One of the highly contested categories is that of the CAF Coach of the Year, where Aliou Cisse, Pitso Mosimane, Carlos Queiroz, Tom Saintfiet and Walid Regragui have made the final cut.

The Player of the Year and Interclub Player of the Year has 10 nominees each, whist the Young Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, National Team of the Year and Club of the Year has five (5) nominees each.

The winners of each category will be decided by a voting panel made up of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches & Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved at the group stage of the Interclub competitions for the 2021/22 season.

Full List of Nominees (in alphabetical order by Member Association):

Player of the Year (Men)

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)

Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Olympique Lyonnais)

Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)

Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire & Ajax)

Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)

Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris Saint-Germain)

Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea)

Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)

Sadio Mane (Senegal & Bayern Munich)

Interclub Player of the Year (Men)

Tiago Azulao (Petro Atletico)

Karim Konate (ASEC Mimosas)

Aliou Dieng (Al Ahly)

Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly)

Percy Tau (Al Ahly)

Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly)

Mohamed El Shenawy (Al Ahly)

Achraf Dari (Wydad Athletic Club)

Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Athletic Club)

Zouheir El Moutaraji (Wydad Athletic Club)

Young Player of the Year (Men)

Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso & Lorient)

Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg)

Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes)

Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz)

Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United)

Coach of the Year (Men)

Carlos Queiroz (Egypt)

Pitso Mosimane (Al Ahly)

Tom Saintfiet (The Gambia)

Walid Regragui (Wydad Athletic Club)

Aliou Cisse (Senegal)

National Team of the Year

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Egypt

Morocco

Senegal

Club of the Year

Petro Atletico (Angola)

Al Ahly (Egypt)

RS Berkane (Morocco)

Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)

Orlando Pirates (South Africa)