2022 CAF Awards: Star-studded final shortlist released

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released a star-studded final list of nominees for the men’s categories of the returning CAF Awards set to take place on 21 July 2022 in Rabat, Morocco.

The awards will be making a return for the first time since 2019 when they were last held as Senegalese foward Sadio Mane, currently with Bayern Munich and Nigerian ace Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona Women) scooped the African Player of the Year Men and Women respectively.

In the revealed list, some of the elite performers in the last few months (September 2021 to June 2022) have been included with the awards expected to be a close call

The nominees include reigning Player of the Year Sadio Mane, former winner Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Manchester City), Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool), amongst others.

One of the highly contested categories is that of the CAF Coach of the Year, where Aliou Cisse, who led Senegal to a very first Africa Cup of Nations title in their history, headlines a list containing South African maestro Pitso Mosimane, ex Egypt boss Carlos Queiroz, Gambia head coach Tom Saintfiet and Wydad Athletic Club head coach Walid Regragui who led the team to CAF Champions League glory.

The Player of the Year and Interclub Player of the Year has 10 nominees each, whist the Young Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, National Team of the Year and Club of the Year has five (5) nominees each.

The winners of each category will be decided by a voting panel made up of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches & Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved at the group stage of the Interclub competitions for the 2021/22 season.

Full List of Nominees (in alphabetical order by Member Association):

Player of the Year (Men)

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)

Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Olympique Lyonnais)

Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)

Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire & Ajax)

Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)

Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris Saint-Germain)

Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea)

Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)

Sadio Mane (Senegal & Bayern Munich)

Interclub Player of the Year (Men)

Tiago Azulao (Petro Atletico)

Karim Konate (ASEC Mimosas)

Aliou Dieng (Al Ahly)

Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly)

Percy Tau (Al Ahly)

Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly)

Mohamed El Shenawy (Al Ahly)

Achraf Dari (Wydad Athletic Club)

Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Athletic Club)

Zouheir El Moutaraji (Wydad Athletic Club)

Young Player of the Year (Men)

Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso & Lorient)

Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg)

Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes)

Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz)

Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United)

Coach of the Year (Men)

Carlos Queiroz (Egypt)

Pitso Mosimane (Al Ahly)

Tom Saintfiet (The Gambia)

Walid Regragui (Wydad Athletic Club)

Aliou Cisse (Senegal)

National Team of the Year

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Egypt

Morocco

Senegal

Club of the Year

Petro Atletico (Angola)

Al Ahly (Egypt)

RS Berkane (Morocco)

Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)

Orlando Pirates (South Africa)