By Victor Kanayo
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday unveiled the initial list of players for the 2023 player of the year award.
The 30-man list comprising top continental footballers have Super Eagles and Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen, and favourite as one of the nominees.
Full List Of Nominees
It includes Victor Osimhen (Nigeria and SSC Napoli), Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli), Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli), Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas), Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest), Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire and Al Nassr), Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille), Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids), Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly), Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly), Mohamed El-Shenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly), Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool), Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham United), Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal), Serhou Guirassy (Guinea and VfB Stuttgart), Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain), Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco and Olympique Marseille), Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Galatasaray), Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco and Manchester United), Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club), Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal), Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco and Sevilla), Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns), Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal and Tottenham Hotspur), Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly) and Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Ferencvaros).
Salah, Mahrez, Mane, Hakimi and Ziyech are among the other top nominees for the prestigious award.
Osimhen In Pole Position For The Crown
Osimhen, a 24-year-old football star was instrumental to Napoli’s success last season, as the club won the Serie A for the first time in 33 years.
He also won the Golden Boot, scoring 26 goals and becoming the highest-scoring African in the league.
He was also named the best striker in the league.
The Serie A goal-poarcher is hoping to become the first Nigerian to win the award since Nwankwo Kanu claimed the prize in 1996.
At the 2023 Ballon d’Or award held on Monday, Osimhen ranked 8th on the men’s list, thus becoming the highest-ranked Nigerian player ever.
A Place For Gifted Orban
Another Nigerian and Gent of Belgium forward Gift Orban is also nominated for the Young Player of the Year award.
Orban was among 10 players deemed good enough for the recognition at the CAF 2023 Awards due for December 11, 2023, in Marrakech Morrocco.
The rising talented player scored a total of 20 goals in the period under review which caught the attention of the panel of CAF Technical Experts who compile the lists of nominees for the Awards.
The Super Eagles invitee will face stiff opposition from nine other young players who have distinguished themselves in the year under review.
The list includes four Senegalese, who are Lamine Camara of Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz), Pape Amadou Diallo who plays for Generation Foot/Metz), Pape Demba Diop who plays for Zulte Waregem and Amara Diouf of Generation Foot).
Other nominees for the award are Dango Ouattara of Burkina Faso and Bournemouth, Souleymane Alio of Burkina Faso and New Stars, Ghanian Ernest Nuamah who plays for Olympique Lyonnais, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli of Morocco and Real Betis and Bilal El Khannous of Morocco and Genk.
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.
