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Today, Wednesday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the preliminary lists of candidates for its awards for the year 2023, which will be presented during a huge ceremony in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on December 11.
CAF revealed on its official account on the X platform (formerly Twitter) the candidates for the Best African Player Award for the current year, as the initial list included 30 players, including 14 Arab players.
Morocco had the lion’s share of the candidates for the award, with seven players represented on the list, after the historic achievement of the “Atlas Lions”, which won fourth place in the Qatar World Cup late last year.
The Moroccan team was the first Arab and African team to reach the semi-finals in the World Cup.
Ladies and gentlemen 🚨
Here is the list of candidates to win the 2023 African Player of the Year award. 🥁#CAFAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/BAtzNehne1
— CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) November 1, 2023
The Arab players on the list are:
- Moroccan Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
- Moroccan Youssef En-Nesyri (Seville, Spain)
- Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou (Seville of Spain and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia)
- Moroccan Yahya Gibran (Wydad of Morocco)
- Moroccan Sofiane Amrabat (Italy’s Verontinia and England’s Manchester United)
- Moroccan Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea, England and Galatasaray, Turkey)
- Moroccan Ezzedine Ounahi (French Angers and Marseille)
- Egyptian Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, England)
- Egyptian Mohamed Abdel Moneim (Al-Ahly of Egypt)
- Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy (Al-Ahly of Egypt)
- Egyptian Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Al-Ahly of Egypt)
- Algerian Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, England and Al-Ahly, Saudi Arabia)
- Algerian Ramy Bensebaini (Germany Dortmund)
- Tunisian Mohamed Ali Ben Ramadan (Esperance Tunis)
As for the list of the best players within the African continent, which was announced by CAF, it included 20 players:
- Hussein Al-Shahat, Mahmoud Abdel Moneim Kahraba, Mohamed Abdel Moneim, Mohamed El-Shenawy, and Mostafa Fathi (Egypt)
- Youssef Al-Mutie, Yahya Gibran, and Yahya Attia Allah (Morocco)
- Zinedine Belaid, Oussama Ben Bout and Ayman Mahios (Algeria)
- Ali Maaloul and Mohamed Ali Ben Ramadan (Tunisia)
- Percy Tau, Ranga Chivavero and Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
- Macabe Lilibo and Fiston Mayele (DR Congo)
- Peter Shalulile (Namibia)
- Djigui Diarra (Mali)
An impressive performance they gave on the continent. 🌍
List of players nominated for the Best Player Award in Africa. ✨#CAFAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/beaP3HK4T9
— CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) November 1, 2023
As for the award for the best club in Africa, 10 clubs are competing for it, led by:
Here are the clubs nominated for the Best Club in Africa award for the year 2023! 🔝#CAFAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/lcPaG1MYd8
— CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) November 1, 2023
- Al-Ahly of Egypt
- Wydad Casablanca of Morocco
- Algiers Capital Union
- Esperance Tunis
- Raja Casablanca of Morocco
- Belouizdad Youth, Algeria
- Mamelodi Sundowns, South Africa
- Marumo Galantis from South Africa
- ASIC Mimosa Ivory
- Young Africans of Tanzania
The Moroccan national team is competing for the award for the best African national team for the year 2023 with the teams of Senegal (African champion), Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Cape Verde, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania, Namibia and Mozambique.
🔟 National teams competing for the best award in the African continent for the year 2023! 🌍#CAFAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/kjbBA1lemZ
— CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) November 1, 2023
CAF also announced the list of candidates for the award for the best technical manager in the African continent this year, which is competing for:
- Moroccan Walid Regragui (Morocco national team coach)
- Swiss Marcel Kohler (Egyptian Al-Ahly coach)
- Algerian Abdelhak Ben Sheikha (Ittihad Al-Asimah)
- Senegalese Aliou Cisse (Senegal national team)
- Senegalese Pape Thiaw (Senegal national team)
- Guinean Juan Obiang (Equatorial Guinea)
- Frenchman Amir Abdou (Mauritania national team)
- Guinean Bassero Kandé (Guinea-Bissau national team)
- Belgian Tom Saintveit (Gambia national team)
- Mozambican Chiquinho Kunde (Mozambique national team)
The list of candidates for the Best Goalkeeper in Africa Award included:
- Moroccan Yacine Bounou (Spain’s Sevilla and Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal)
- Egyptian Mohamed El-Shenawy (Al-Ahly)
- Algerian Osama Ben Bout (Ittihad Al-Asimah)
- Senegalese Eduardo Mendy (Chelsea, England, and Al-Ahly Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
- Cameroonian Andre Onana (Italy’s Inter, England’s Manchester United)
- South African Ronwen Williams (Sundowns)
- Senegalese Landing Badji (Umm Salal Qatari)
- Senegalese Pape Mamadou C (Belgian RFC)
- Malian Djiji Diarra (Young Africans)
- Moroccan Youssef Al-Mutia (Wydad Casablanca)
The list of candidates for the Best Young Player Award includes:
- Moroccan Abdel Samad Zalzouli (Real Betis)
- Bilal Khanoussi (Belgian Genk)
- Burkinabe Dango Ouattara (Bournemouth, England)
- Burkinabe Solimani Aliou (New Stars Burkinabe)
- Nigerian Gift Urban (Belgian Ghent)
- Ghanaian Ernest Nwamah (Lyon, France)
- Senegalese Amara Diouf (French Metz)
- Senegal’s Pape Diop (Belgium’s Zulte Wargem)
- Senegalese Papa Amadou Diallo (French Metz)
- Senegalese Lamine Camara (French Metz)
The future of the African continent 🤩
List of nominees for the Best Young African Player Award 👇#CAFAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/g0noqRGDOw
— CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) November 1, 2023
