Three Nigerian players, Ahmed Musa, Odion Ighalo and Alex Iwobi were among the 34 African players nominated to vie for CAF’s flagship award, Player of the Year.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool leads Egypt’s three nominees that included, Ahmed Gomaa of El Masry and Walid Soliman of Al Ahly.
Morocco led the nominations with four players: Ayoub El Kaabi who plays with China Fortune, Hakim Ziyech(Ajax), Ismail Haddad(Wydad Athletic Club) and Mahmoud Benhalib(Raja Club Athletic).
CAF unveiled the nominations at the end of the meeting of the executive committee in Accra, Ghana.
Fifteen women players have also been nominated for the Women’s Player of the Year based on the performance of the players during the year.
Among them are four Nigerian players: Asisat Oshoala (Dilian Quanjian), Desire Oparanozia ( Guingamp), Francisca Ordega (Washington Spirit) and Onome Ebi (Hekan Huisanhang).
According to CAF, the winners for the African Player of the Year and Women’s Player of the Year will be decided by the CAF Technical & Development Committee, Media Experts, Legends, Coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup and Coaches and Captains of the national teams of the 54 Member Associations.
Youth Player of the Year, Men’s Coach of the Year, Women’s Coach of the Year, Men’s National Team of the Year and Women’s National Team of the Year will be elected by CAF Technical & Development Committee, Media Experts, Legends, Coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.
The Awards Gala, to honour footballers and officials who distinguished themselves during the year under review, will be held on Tuesday, 8 January 2019 in Dakar, Senegal.
