Super Eagles star, Alex Iwobi, is top on the list of 10 players shortlisted for the prestigious Africa Player of Year Award.
The Confederation of African Football on their official website on Friday released a trimmed list of nominees as the CAF Awards 2018 gathers momentum.
Aside from Iwobi who is the only Nigerian in the race, premier league stars, Riyad Mahrez, Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are all in the race for Africa’s biggest individual award.
Unfortunately, Ahmed Musa, as well as Nigeria’s national team coach, Gernot Rohr, have both dropped out in the race for honours in the 2018 CAF Awards.
While Musa was initially shortlisted for the prestigious Africa player of year accolade, Rohr was pencilled down in the best coach category.
That notwithstanding, Nigeria still has some form of representation as two players, Onome Ebi and Asisat Oshoala, are in the run for the women’s player of the year.
The Super Falcons’ coach, Thomas Dennerby, is being nominated alongside two others in the Women’s Coach of the Year category.
Also, the Super Falcons who only recently won their ninth African title, have been nominated for Women’s National Team of the Year.
CAF explained that the shortlisted nominees were decided by votes from the members of the CAF Technical & Development Committee.
The final phase will involve votes from CAF Media Experts, Legends, Coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, and Coaches & Captains of the 54 Member Associations.
The Awards Gala, to honour footballers and officials who distinguished themselves during the year under review, will be held on Tuesday, 8 January 2019 in Dakar, Senegal.
See The Full Shortlists for CAF Awards 2018
CAF-AWardAfrican Player of the Year
1. Alex Iwobi (Nigeria & Arsenal)
2. Andre Onana (Cameroon & Ajax)
3. Anis Badri (Tunisia & Esperance)
4. Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)
5. Mehdi Benatia (Morocco & Juventus)
6. Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Arsenal)
8. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
9. Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
10. Walid Soliman (Egypt & Ahly)
Women’s Player of the Year
1. Abdulai Mukarama (Ghana & Northern Ladies)
2. Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Dilian Quanjian)
3. Bassira Toure (Mali & AS Mande)
4. Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Houston Dash)
5. Elizabeth Addo (Ghana & Seattle Reign)
6. Francisca Ordega (Nigeria & Washington Spirit)
7. Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene (Cameroon & CSKA Moskow)
8. Janine Van Wyk (South Africa & Houston Dash)
9. Onome Ebi (Nigeria & Hekan Huisanhang)
10. Raissa Feudjio (Cameroon & Aland United)
11. Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi & Jiangsu Suning)
Youth Player of the Year
1. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmunmd)
2. Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire & AC Milan)
3. Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria & Leicester City)
Men’s Coach of the Year
1. Aliou Cisse (Senegal)
2. Herve Renard (Morocco)
3. Moine Chaabani (Esperance)
Women’s Coach of the Year
1. Desiree Ellis (South Africa)
2. Joseph Brian Ndoko (Cameroon)
3. Thomas Dennerby (Nigeria)
Men’s National Team of the Year
1. Madagascar
2. Mauritania
3. Uganda
Women’s National Team of the Year
1. Cameroon
2. Nigeria
3. South Africa
