Nigeria forward Ahmed Musa will have to wait for another year for a chance to win his first African Player of the Year award after the Confederation of African Football excluded him from the final 10-man shortlist for the 2018 award.
But his Super Eagles teammate Alex Iwobi is the only Nigerian in the final shortlist for the award, which winner would be announced on January 8, 2019.
Current African Player of the Year Mohammed Salah of Egypt and his Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane and Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headline the list, which was decided by votes from the members of the CAF Media Committee, CAF Technical & Development Committee and half of the 20-member panel of experts.
Others on the list are Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana, Tunisia’s Anis Badri, Denis Onyango of Uganda, Mehdi Benatia of Morocco, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez and Walid Soliman of Egypt.
Nigeria however, dominated the 11-woman final shortlist as current African Women’s Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala and her teammates Onome Ebi as well as Francisca Ordega made the list.
Others are South Africans Thembi Kgatlana and Janine Van Wyk, Cameroon’s Fedjuo Raissa and Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene, Ghana’s Elizabeth Addo and Abdulai Mukarama, Mali’s Basira Toure and Tabitha Chawinga of Malawi.
Eagle’s defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is in line for the Youth Player of the Year. His challengers are Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and Franck Kessie of Ivory Coast. Super Falcons’ coach Thomas Dennerby is also listed for the Women’s Coach of the Year along with Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis and Joseph Ndoko of Cameroon.
Nine time African champions Falcons are shortlisted along with Cameroon and South Africa for the Women’s National Team of the Year Award.
