Wayne Lumbasi
Senegalese superstar Sadio Mane heads a list of 10 nominees for the African Footballer of the Year award, to be handed out later this month for the first time in three years.
The players in the final 10 are; Sadio Mane, Achraf Hakimi, Naby Keita, Karl Toko Ekambi, , Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Salah, Edouard Mendy, Vincent Aboubakar, Kalidou Koulibaly and Sebastian Haller. Salah won the award in 2017 and 2018 and Mahrez in 2016.
Mane, who won the last award in 2019, will be favored to win again after a season in which he helped Senegal to their first Africa Cup of Nations title plus qualification to the World Cup in Qatar.
Former Liverpool teammate Salah is another strong contender, after the Egypt legend ended the 2021/22 Premier League season as the joint top scorer, as well as providing more assists than any other player.
The award has been collected by some iconic footballers from the continent including: Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba and George Weah.
Apart from the Player of the Year category, another group that is expected to attract stiff competition is the Coach of the Year category.
Pitso Mosimane, who was in charge of Al Ahly during the period under consideration, Aliou Cisse, who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, and Wydad Casablanca’s Walid Regragui – a 2021/2022 Champions League winner – are among the contestants.
The CAF Awards 2022 will be held in Rabat on 21 July 2022 .The winner will be decided by a voting panel made up of CAF technical committee, media professionals, head coaches and captains of member associations and clubs involved at the group stage of the Interclub competitions for the 2021/22 season.
