Egypt international and Liverpool striker, Mohammed Salah alongside Senegalese Sadio Mané among others have been shortlisted for this year’s CAF African Player of the Year Award.
Mané has been tipped to retain Africa’s best player following his outstanding performance for his country clinching the AFCON 2021 title.
READ ALSO: CAF shifts dates of Ghana-Nigeria World Cup playoffs
The 30-year-old who recently secured a three-year contract with Bayern Munich for €32 million scored 16 goals in 34 Premier League appearances in the 2021/22 season and five goals in 13 UEFA Champions League matches while at Liverpool last season.
On the other hand, football enthusiasts will not deny Mohammed Salah’s performance for his club, Liverpool last season scoring 23 goals in 35 EPL appearances as eight goals in 13 UCL matches.
Salah’s Egypt lost the AFCON 2021 final to Senegal after a thrilling 2-4 penalty. He has renewed his contract with Liverpool till 2025.
Another player in contention is former winner Riyad Mahrez from Algeria who plays his professional football with Manchester City).
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 inter-club 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 and Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved at the group stage of the inter-club competitions for the 2021/22 season.
The awards ceremony is scheduled for July 21, 2022 in Rabat, Morocco.
See full list of nominees and other categories in alphabetical order:
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)
