CAF has announced the initial list of nominees for the CAF Awards 2022, which will take place on July 21, 2022, in Rabat, Morocco.
Nantes and Nigerian winger Moses Simon has been shortlisted for the Player of The Year award. The 26-year-old is joined by 29 others including Egypt superstar Mohamed Salah, Senegalese forward Sadio Mane, and Riyad Mahrez of Algeria.
FC Copenhagen attacking midfielder Akinkunmi Amoo was also nominated for the Young Player of the Year category. The former Golden Eaglets was shortlisted alongside nine others.
According to CAF, a stakeholder panel made up of Technical Experts, CAF Legends, and Journalists selected the nominees for the various categories after taking their performance from September 2021 through June 2022 into account at all levels.
Full List of Nominees (in alphabetic order by Member Association):
Player of the Year (Men)
– Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
– Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Aston Villa)
– Blati Toure (Burkina Faso & Pyramids)
– Edmund Tapsoba (Burkina Faso & Bayer Leverkusen)
– Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon & Napoli)
– Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Lyon)
– Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)
– Youssouf M’Changama (Comoros & Guingamp)
– Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire & AC Milan)
– Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire & Ajax)
– Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt & Al Ahly)
– Mohamed ElNeny (Egypt & Arsenal)
– Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
– Mohamed Shenawy (Egypt & Al Ahly)
– Musa Barrow (Gambia & Bologna)
– Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)
– Aliou Dieng (Mali & Al Ahly)
– Hamari Traore (Mali & Rennes)
– Yves Bissouma (Mali & Tottenham Hotspur)
– Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris Saint-Germain)
– Sofiane Boufal (Morocco & Angers)
– Yahya Jabrane (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club)
– Yassine Bounou (Morocco & Sevilla)
– Moses Simon (Nigeria & Nantes)
– Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea)
– Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)
– Nampalys Mendy (Senegal & Leicester City)
– Sadio Mane (Senegal & Bayern Munich)
– Saliou Ciss (Senegal & Nancy)
– Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly)
Young Player of the Year (Men)
– Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso & Lorient)
– Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg)
– Jesus Owono (Equatorial Guinea & Alaves)
– James Gomez (The Gambia & AC Horsens)
– Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes)
– Ilaix Moriba Kourouma (Guinea & Valencia)
– El Bilal Toure (Mali & Reims)
– Akinkunmi Amoo (Nigeria & FC Copenhagen)
– Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz)
– Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United)
Other categories include Interclub Player of the Year (Men), Coach of the Year (Men), National Team of the Year (Men), and Club of the Year (Men). The nominees for the Women’s categories will be announced in due course.
The winners in each category will be determined by a voting panel comprised of CAF Technical Committee members, media experts, Head Coaches and Captains of Member Associations, and teams participating in the Interclub tournaments at the group stage.
The awards ceremony will be held ahead of the final of Africa’s women’s Cup of Nations in Morocco scheduled to take place between 2 July – 23 July.
