Sports

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday released the first list of nominees for the CAF Awards 2022 which will be held on July 21 in Rabat, Morocco. The list has Super Eagles and Nantes FC forward Moses Simon among the 30 players nominated for the Player of the Year Award. It also has Akinkunmi Amoo of FC Copenhagen among the 10 nominees for the Young (Male) Player of the Year Award. The revealed nominees are mainly for the Men’s categories, namely Player of the Year, Interclub Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, National Team of the Year and Club of the Year. CAF however said in a statement that the nominees for the Women’s categories would be announced in due course. A stakeholder panel made up of Technical Experts, CAF Legends and Journalists decided on the list for the various categories. They were expected to have taken into the consideration the performance of the nominee from September 2021 till June at all levels. The winners of each category will be decided by a voting panel. The panel will have CAF Technical Committee members, media professionals, Head Coaches and Captains of Member-Associations and clubs involved at the group stage of the Interclub competitions. The CAF Awards 2022 will be held ahead of the final match of Africa’s flagship women’s competitions, Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON). The competition tagged “Morocco 2022” is holding from Saturday to July 23. Full List of Nominees (in alphabetic order by Member-Association): Player of the Year (Men)

• Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Manchester City)
• Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso and Aston Villa)
• Blati Toure (Burkina Faso and Pyramids)
• Edmund Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)
• Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and Napoli)
• Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon and Lyon)
• Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Al Nassr)
• Youssouf M’Changama (Comoros and Guingamp)
• Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire and AC Milan)
• Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire and Ajax)
• Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
• Mohamed ElNeny (Egypt and Arsenal)
• Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
• Mohamed Shenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
• Musa Barrow (Gambia and Bologna)
• Naby Keita (Guinea and Liverpool)
• Aliou Dieng (Mali and Al Ahly)
• Hamari Traore (Mali and Rennes)
• Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur)
• Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
• Sofiane Boufal (Morocco and Angers)
• Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
• Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Sevilla)
• Moses Simon (Nigeria and Nantes)
• Edouard Mendy (Senegal and Chelsea)
• Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal and Napoli)
• Nampalys Mendy (Senegal and Leicester City)
• Sadio Mane (Senegal and Bayern Munich)
• Saliou Ciss (Senegal and Nancy)
• Ali Maaloul (Tunisia and Al Ahly)