July 11, (THEWILL) – The latest 10-man shortlist for the returning Confederation of African Football (CAF) Men’s Player of the Year award for the 2021/2022 season features Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, former teammates at Liverpool, as frontrunners.
Mane just signed with German champions Bayern Munich and has the advantage over Salah this year at the international level. He led the charge as Senegal won their 2022 World Cup play-off match the month after defeating Salah’s Egypt in the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations’ final.
Mane is the most recent winner of the award, having received it in 2019 with the awards postponed the following year due to the COVID-19. After the initial 30-man lengthy list was trimmed down, Algerian midfielder Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City, Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, and Liverpool player Naby Keita also remain but there is no more Nigerian.
In the 30-man long list, Nigerian winger Moses Simon of Nantes was the only Nigerian included in the running for the prize after a fantastic season in the French Ligue 1. The 26-year-old helped the team to a solid ninth-place finish and they lifted the French Cup, the club’s first major trophy since winning the Ligue 1 title in 2001, after a 21-year wait. Simon was also a standout player for Nigeria at the group stage of AFCON 2021, scoring and providing an assist as Nigeria defeated Sudan 3-1.
He is no more in contention as those left include Vincent Aboubakar of Cameroon, who made history by being the first player to score eight goals in a single AFCON in more than 50 years, Karl Toko Ekambi, Achraf Hakimi, Sebastien Haller, and Kalidou Koulibaly.
There is also no Nigerian in other categories (Interclub Player, Young Player, Coach, National Team, Club) as is obvious below:
CAF awards 2022 – Full list of nominees
Player of the Year (Men)
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Lyon)
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)
Sebastien Haller (Ivory Coast & Borussia Dortmund)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris St-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)
Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes)
Karim Konate (Ivory Coast & ASEC/RB Salzburg)
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)
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
