A number of Moroccan players will compete for CAF’s best player of the year award.
Rabat – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has nominated five Moroccan players for the Men’s African Footballer of the Year award.
The five include three international players: defender Mehdi Benatia (Juventus), attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech (Ajax), and forward Ayoub El Kaabi (Hebei China Fortune).
The list also include two candidates from Morocco’s first division league, Botola Pro: Ismail Haddad from Wydad Athletic Club and Mahmoud Benhalib from Raja Club Athletic.
CAF also gives awards to the Youth Player of the Year, Men’s Coach of the Year, Men’s National Team of the Year, and Women’s National Team of the Year.
CAF’s Technical and Development Committee, media experts, legends, coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup will elect the winners.
The prizes will be distributed on January 8, 2019, in Dakar, Senegal.
The list below contains the nominees for the Men’s African Player of the Year:
Abdelmoumene Djabou (Algeria – ES Setif)
Ahmed Gomaa (Egypt – El Masry)
Ahmed Musa (Nigeria – Al-Nassr )
Alex Iwobi (Nigeria – Arsenal)
Andre Onana (Cameroon – Ajax)
Anis Badri (Tunisia – Esperance)
Ayoub El Kaabi (Morocco – Hebei China Fortune)
Ben Malango (DR Congo – TP Mazembe)
Denis Onyango (Uganda – Mamelodi Sundowns)
Fanev Andriatsima (Madagascar – Clermont Foot)
Franck Kom (Cameroon – Esperance)
Jacinto Muondo Dala ‘Gelson’ (Angola – Primeiro de Agosto)
Hakim Ziyech (Morocco – Ajax)
Idrissa Gueye (Senegal – Everton)
Ismail Haddad (Morocco – Wydad Athletic Club)
Jean-Marc Makusu Mundele (DR Congo – AS Vita)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal – Napoli)
Mahmoud Benhalib (Morocco – Raja Club Athletic)
Mehdi Benatia (Morocco – Juventus)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt – Liverpool)
Moussa Marega (Mali – Porto)
Naby Keita (Guinea – Liverpool)
Odion Ighalo (Nigeria – Changchun Yatai, Nigeria)
Percy Tau (South Africa – Union Saint-Gilloise)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon – Arsenal)
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria – Manchester City)
Sadio Mane (Senegal – Liverpool)
Taha Khenissi (Tunisia – Esperance)
Thomas Partey (Ghana – Atletico Madrid)
Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia – Saint-Étienne)
Walid Soliman (Egypt – Ahly)
Wilfried Zaha (Cote d’Ivoire – Crystal Palace)
Yacine Brahimi (Algeria – Porto)
Youcef Belaili (Algeria – Esperance)
