Sadio Mané tops the 10-players list for African Footballer of the Year.

 The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Monday that Sadio Mané is the winner of the African Footballer of the Year award, which will be presented later in July for the first time in three years.

After a season in which he assisted Senegal in winning their first Africa Cup of Nations championship and qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar, Mané, who won the previous honor in 2019, will be the favorite to win again. He also won a cup while playing for Liverpool at the club level, but he now plays for Bayern Munich.

Along with Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City, his former teammates Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah are also listed among the ten nominees. Mahrez received it in 2016, while Salah did so in 2017 and 2018.

According to Caf officials who spoke to Reuters, the lack of an award for the previous three years was caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the decision to move the qualification period from the calendar year to the 2021–22 season.

The winner will be announced at a gala in Rabat, Morocco on July 21. The judging panel will be made up of members of the Caf's technical committee, the press, coaches, and captains of Africa's 54 national teams.

African Footballer of the Year nominees: Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Sebastien Haller (Ivory Coast), Naby Keita (Guinea), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), Sadio Mane, Edouard Mendy (both Senegal), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon)