CAF AWARDS
Nnadozie, Ajibade among 10 shortlist of CAF women’s player of the year
Two Nigerian women footballers, Rasheedat Ajibade and goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie are among the 10 shortlisted for the women’s version of the African Footballer of Year.
The Confédération of African Football (CAF) on Wednesday night unveiled the list.
The shortlist comprises of players featuring on the continent and abroad.
Apart from the two Nigerians, the others are Sandrine Niyonkuru (Burundi / FC Masar), Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi / Olympique Lyonnais), Temwa Chawinga (Malawi / Kansas City), Sanaa Mssoudy (Morocco / AS FAR), Jermaine Seoposenwe (South Africa / Monterrey), Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa / Tigres UANL), Barbara Banda (Zambia / Orlando Pride) and Racheal Kundananji (Zambia / Bay FC).
The CAF Interclub Women’s Player of the Year is also an exciting category to look out for, with six of the 10 nominees currently vying for the ongoing CAF Women’s Champions League title in Morocco.
The recognition of the best coach in the women’s football will also be recognised at the glittering ceremony evening.
The list of nominees includes young and emerging African women’s football coaches such as Mildred Cheche (Kenya) who qualified the Kenyan U-17 national team to its first ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, as well Thinasonke Mbuli who guided UWC to a historic qualification to the CAF Women’s Champions League amongst others.
The winners of each category will be determined through votes from a diverse panel, including the CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, and the Head Coaches & Captains of Member Associations, as well as clubs participating in the group stages of CAF Interclub competitions.
The CAF Awards 2024 cover the period between January 2024 and October 2024.
Nigerian attacker Ademola Lookman leads the list of five candidates for this year’s African Footballer of the Year award, which were revealed by the Confederation of African Football on Monday.
The London-born Nigerian international scored a hat-trick in the Europa League final for his Italian club Atalanta and was a leading light for Nigeria as they reached this year’s Africa Cup of Nations final, making him a favourite for the award.
He will be up against Morocco fullback Achraf Hakimi, who won Ligue 1 with Paris St Germain, and Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy, who scored 28 Bundesliga goals for VfB Stuttgart last season and earned himself a transfer to Borussia Dortmund.
Simon Adingra from English club Brighton & Hove Albion, who was a fan favourites as the Cote d’Ivoire won the Cup of Nations at the start of the year, and South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams are the other two candidates, CAF said.
The coaches of each of Africa’s 54 countries, along with an expert panel rues, vote for the award, which will be handed out at a ceremony in Marrakech, Morocco on Dec. 16.
-Reuters
Ademola Lookman still look on course to be crowned as the African Footballer of the Year which ceremony will hold in Rabat next month.
The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has officially unveiled the Top Five Nominees in each of the Men’s Categories of the upcoming CAF Awards 2024.
The 2024 edition of the CAF Awards is set to take place in Rabat, Morocco on 16 December 2024.
Lookman makes the top five shortlist along with Simon Adingra (Cote d’Ivoire / Brighton & Hove Albion), Serhou Guirassy (Guinea / Borussia Dortmund), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco / Paris Saint-Germain), and Ronwen Williams (South Africa / Mamelodi Sundowns).
Other categories announced on Monday include Goalkeeper of the Year, Interclub Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Young Player of the Year, Club of the Year, National Team of the Year.
The glittering ceremony designed to celebrate African football excellence recognizes exceptional performances in both club and national competitions, culminating in the prestigious titles of CAF African Player of the Year in both the men’s and women’s categories.
A total of seven (7) categories have been confirmed by CAF in the Men’s Category of the awards, shortlisting the five top-performing players, coaches, and teams in each of the categories.
The CAF Awards 2024 covers the period between January 2024 and October 2024.
Despite the potent threat that Ademola Lookman poses to Gernot Rohr’s dream of leading the Cheetahs of Benin Republic to the Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals, the former Nigeria manager has anointed the Atalanta forward to be crowned as the Africa Footballer of the Year next month in Rabat, Morocco.
Nigerian publication The Nation quoted Rohr as saying: “For me, Lookman is the best one in Africa to win the golden award for footballer of the year; he is a fantastic player.”
Incidentally, it was Lookman who spearheaded the damage that Rohr is now trying to control.
His team, facing the Super Eagles on Thursday night, stands the risk of missing out at the Africa Cup of Nations should they succumb to a second Super Eagles’ defeat and Rwanda beat Libya in Kigali.
Lookman opened the scoring and ended with a brace in the 3-0 defeat of Benin Republic in Uyo in September. He is on fire to impress further to assert his claim to the African crown.
“ But I hope he will not score against us (on Thursday) like he did in the last game in Uyo”, The Nation quoted Rohr as saying
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