The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has nominated Nigerian Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, for the 2023 men’s player of the year award.
Osimhen is the only Nigerian player who made the list for the 2023 CAF Awards scheduled for December 11 in Marrakech, Morocco.
Other African big names that will contest with the Napoli striker are the 2022 edition winner, Senegal’s Sadio Mane, and his former Liverpool team mate, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, and Algeria’s Riyadh Mahrez.
A statement on the CAF website on Wednesday disclosed that a panel of CAF Technical Experts, African Football Legends, and selected media representatives from countries assembled the preliminary list.
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It said the performance of the nominees between November 2022 and September 2023 served as the period under consideration.
CAF stated, “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 10 nominees each just as CAF Young Player of the Year – for players under the age of 21.”
The continent’s football body added that for the first time, it decided to introduce the CAF African Goalkeeper of the Year Category (Men and Women) in the prestigious event.
It noted that the award makes attempt 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,” it stated.
“The ultimate winner of each category will be decided after votes from a voting panel.
“The panel will consist of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches and Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved in the group stages of the Interclub competitions.
“The nominees for the Women’s categories will be announced in due course.”
See the full list of nominees below:
1. Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund)
2. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli)
3. Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)
4. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli)
5. Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas)
6. Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest)
7. Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire and Al Nassr)
8. Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille)
9. Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids)
10. Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
11. Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
12. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
13. Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
14. Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham United)
15. Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal)
16. Serhou Guirassy (Guinea and VfB Stuttgart)
17. Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur)
18. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
19. Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco and Olympique Marseille)
20. Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Galatasaray)
21. Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco and Manchester United)
22. Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
23. Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal)
24. Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco and Sevilla)
25. Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
26. Victor Osimhen (Nigeria and SSC Napoli)
27. Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr)
28. Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal and Tottenham Hotspur)
29. Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
30. Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Ferencvaros).
