The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has unveiled nominees for its 2023 awards.
A statement by CAF on Wednesday read in part,
“A panel of CAF Technical Experts, African Football Legends, and selected media representatives from several 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.”
Thirty 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 21.
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.
Super Eagles and Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen, made the shortlist alongside Mohamed Salah, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane, Achraf Hakimi, and Hakim Ziyech among other top nominees for the award.
Osimhen is the favourite to win this year’s edition of the prestigious award.
The 24-year-old was instrumental to Napoli’s success last season, as the club won Serie A for the first time in 33 years. Osimhen also won the Golden Boot, scoring 26 goals and becoming the highest-scoring African in the league. He was also named the best striker in the league.
See full list of all 30 nominees for the CAF Best Player of the Year Award (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)
