Osimhen, Salah, others nominated for 2023 African best player award

The Confederation of African Football has unveiled the list of nominees for the 2023 African Player of the Year awards.

The list includes prominent names such as Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, and former Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, among 27 others.

CAF has also set the date for the Gala awards ceremony on December 11, 2023, in Marrakech, Morocco, as announced on their official website.

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 between November 2022 and September 2023 serving as the period under consideration.

“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 emphasized that the winners in each category will be determined through a voting process involving the CAF Technical Committee, media experts, head coaches, and captains from Member Associations and clubs participating in the Interclub competitions’ group stages. Additionally, CAF mentioned that the nominees for the Women’s categories will be revealed at a later date.

Recall that in the previous Awards Gala held in July 2022 in Rabat, Morocco, Senegal’s Sadio Mane was crowned the CAF African Player of the Year, while Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala secured her fifth CAF African Women’s Player of the Year title.

Full List of Nominees (in alphabetic order by Member Association):

Player of the Year (Men)

1. Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund)

2. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli)

3. Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)

4. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli)

5. Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas)

6. Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest)

7. Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire and Al Nassr)

8. Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille)

9. Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids)

10. Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)