Governing Bodies
Moses Simon, Akinwunmi are only Nigerians in CAF Awards short-list
Only two Nigerians feature in a 60-man shortlist for individual awards as the Confederation of African Football, CAF released the first list of nominees for the CAF Awards 2022 which will be held on 21 July 2022 in Rabat, Morocco.
The two Nigerians are Simon Moses in the main award for the African Footballer of Year and Akinwunmi Amoo of FC Copenhagen in the Youth Category.
Nominees in the women’s category have not been released. The Super Eagles are also glaring absentees in the 10 nominees of their category. But Comoros, The Gambia and Equatorial Guinea made the cut.
According to the press statement by CAF, a stakeholder panel made up of Technical Experts, CAF Legends and Journalists decided on the list for the various categories taking into the consideration the performance of the nominee from September 2021 till June 2022 at all levels.
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.
The CAF Awards 2022 will be held ahead of the final of Africa’s flagship women’s competitions, TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2022 scheduled to take place between 02 July – 23 July 2022. The event will also coincide with the two-year anniversary of the launch of the CAF Women’s Football Strategy.
Full List of Nominees (in alphabetic order by Member Association):
Player of the Year (Men)
- Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
- Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Aston Villa)
- Blati Toure (Burkina Faso & Pyramids)
- Edmund Tapsoba (Burkina Faso & Bayer Leverkusen)
- Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon & Napoli)
- Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Lyon)
- Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)
- Youssouf M’Changama (Comoros & Guingamp)
- Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire & AC Milan)
- Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire & Ajax)
- Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt & Al Ahly)
- Mohamed ElNeny (Egypt & Arsenal)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
- Mohamed Shenawy (Egypt & Al Ahly)
- Musa Barrow (Gambia & Bologna)
- Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)
- Aliou Dieng (Mali & Al Ahly)
- Hamari Traore (Mali & Rennes)
- Yves Bissouma (Mali & Tottenham Hotspur)
- Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris Saint-Germain)
- Sofiane Boufal (Morocco & Angers)
- Yahya Jabrane (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club)
- Yassine Bounou (Morocco & Sevilla)
- Moses Simon (Nigeria & Nantes)
- Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea)
- Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)
- Nampalys Mendy (Senegal & Leicester City)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal & Bayern Munich)
- Saliou Ciss (Senegal & Nancy)
- Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly)
Interclub Player of the Year (Men)
- Riad Benayad (ES Setif)
- Tiago Azulao (Petro Atletico)
- Karim Konate (ASEC Mimomas)
- Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly)
- Aliou Dieng (Al Ahly)
- Mohamed Shenawy (Al Ahly)
- Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly)
- Percy Tau (Al Ahly)
- Morlaye Sylla (Horoya)
- Achraf Dari (Wydad Athletic Club)
- Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Athletic Club)
- Zouhair El Moutaraji (Wydad Athletic Club)
- Mouhcine Moutouali (Raja Club Athletic)
- Issoufou Dayo (RS Berkane)
- Youssou El Fahli (RS Berkane)
- Victorien Adebayor (Niger & Union Sportive Gendarmerie Nationale)
- Peter Shalulile (Mamelodi Sundowns)
- Bandile Shandu (Orlando Pirates)
- Thembinkosi Lorch (Orlando Pirates)
- Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Esperance Sportive de Tunis)
Young Player of the Year (Men)
- Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso & Lorient)
- Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg)
- Jesus Owono (Equatorial Guinea & Alaves)
- James Gomez (The Gambia & AC Horsens)
- Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes)
- Ilaix Moriba Kourouma (Guinea & Valencia)
- El Bilal Toure (Mali & Reims)
- Akinkunmi Amoo (Nigeria & FC Copenhagen)
- Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz)
- Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United)
Coach of the Year (Men)
- Kamou Malo (Burkina Faso)
- Amir Abdou (Comoros)
- Carlos Quieroz (Egypt)
- Pitso Mosimane (Al Ahly)
- Tom Saintfiet (The Gambia)
- Florent Ibenge (RS Berkane)
- Vahid Halilhodzic (Morocco)
- Walid Regragui (Wydad Athletic Club)
- Aliou Cisse (Senegal)
- Mandla Ncikazi (Orlando Pirates)
National Team of the Year (Men)
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Comoros
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- The Gambia
- Mali
- Morocco
- Senegal
- Tunisia
Club of the Year (Men)
- ES Setif (Algeria)
- Petro Atletico (Angola)
- TP Mazembe (DR Congo)
- Al Ahly (Egypt)
- Ahli Tripoli (Libya)
- Al Ittihad (Libya)
- Raja Club Athletic (Morocco)
- RS Berkane (Morocco)
- Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)
- Orlando Pirates (South Africa)
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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