The Confederation of African Football named Nigeria's Victor Osimhen, Egypt's Mohamed Salah, former Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, and 27 others as candidates for the 2023 men's African Player of the Year honors on Wednesday.
CAF confirmed on their official website that the Gala awards would be hosted on December 11, 2023, in Marrakech, Morocco.
According to the statement, "a panel of CAF Technical Experts, African Football Legends, and selected media representatives from a number of countries put together the preliminary list for the various categories, with the performance of the nominees serving as the period under consideration between November 2022 and September 2023."
Thirty (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 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.
“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.
CAF maintained that the ultimate winner of each category will be decided after votes from a voting panel consisting of the CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches and captains of Member Associations and clubs involved in the group stages of the Interclub competitions.
It further added that the nominees for the Women’s categories will be announced in due course.
Recall that Senegal forward Sadio Mane was crowned CAF African Player of the Year whilst Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala was coronated CAF African Women’s Player of the Year for a record fifth time during the last Awards Gala in July 2022 in Rabat, Morocco.
FULL LIST of NOMINEES:
Player of the Year (Men)
1. Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria; Borussia Dortmund)
2. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria; Al Ahli)
3. Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso; Bayer Leverkusen)
4. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon; SSC Napoli)
5. Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon; Besiktas)
6. Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire; Nottingham Forest)
7. Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire; Al Nassr)
8. Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo; Olympique Marseille)
9. Fiston Mayele (DR Congo; Pyramids)
10. Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt; Al Ahly)
11. Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt; Al Ahly)
12. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt; Al Ahly)
13. Mohamed Salah (Egypt; Liverpool)
14. Mohammed Kudus (Ghana; West Ham United)
15. Thomas Partey (Ghana; Arsenal)
16. Serhou Guirassy (Guinea; VfB Stuttgart)
17. Yves Bissouma (Mali; Tottenham Hotspur)
18. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco; Paris Saint-Germain)
19. Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco; Olympique Marseille)
20. Hakim Ziyech (Morocco; Galatasaray)
21. Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco; Manchester United)
22. Yahya Jabrane (Morocco; Wydad Athletic Club)
23. Yassine Bounou (Morocco; Al Hilal)
24. Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco; Sevilla)
25. Peter Shalulile (Namibia; Mamelodi Sundowns)
26. Victor Osimhen (Nigeria; SSC Napoli)
27. Sadio Mane (Senegal; Al Nassr)
28. Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal; Tottenham Hotspur)
29. Percy Tau (South Africa; Al Ahly)
30. Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia; Ferencvaros).