The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the nominees for the various male categories of the 2023 CAF Awards, a crucial step as preparations for the Awards Gala scheduled for December 11, 2023, in Marrakech, Morocco, reach their peak.
A panel of CAF technical experts, accompanied by African football legends and selected media representatives from several countries, meticulously evaluated players’ performances between November 2022 and September 2023 to establish the preliminary list of nominees. Thirty players have been shortlisted for the prestigious CAF African Player of the Year title, while 20 players are vying for the CAF Interclubs Player of the Year title. The categories of Coach of the Year, CAF National Team of the Year, and CAF Club of the Year each have ten nominees, as does the Young Player of the Year category, reserved for players under 21 years old.
A new addition this year is the introduction of the African Goalkeeper of the Year category (Men and Women), expanding the horizons of awards to include outstanding goalkeepers. The winner selection process in each category involves a voting panel composed of the CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, as well as head coaches and captains of member associations and clubs involved in the group stages of interclub competitions.
While we await the announcement of the female nominees by CAF, here is the complete list of male nominees (in alphabetical order by Member Association):
Player of the Year:
1. Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund)
2. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli)
3. Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)
4. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli)
5. Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas)
6. Ibrahima Sangare (Côte d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest)
7. Seko Fofana (Côte d’Ivoire and Al Nassr)
8. Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille)
9. Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids)
10. Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
11. Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
12. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
13. Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
14. Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham United)
15. Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal)
16. Serhou Guirassy (Guinea and VfB Stuttgart)
17. Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur)
18. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
19. Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco and Olympique Marseille)
20. Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Galatasaray)
21. Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco and Manchester United)
22. Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
23. Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal)
24. Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco and Sevilla)
25. Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
26. Victor Osimhen (Nigeria and SSC Napoli)
27. Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr)
28. Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal and Tottenham Hotspur)
29. Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
30. Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Ferencvaros)
Goalkeeper of the Year (Men):
1. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
2. Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal)
3. Andre Onana (Cameroon and Manchester United)
4. Ronwen Williams (South Africa and Mamelodi Sundowns)
5. Edouard Mendy (Senegal and Al Ahli)
6. Oussama Benbot (Algeria and USM Alger)
7. Youssef El Motie (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
8. Djigui Diarra (Mali and Young Africans)
9. Pape Mamadou Sy (Senegal and Generation Foot)
10. Landing Badji (Senegal and AS Pikine)
2023 CAF Awards: Interclubs Player of the Year (Men)
1. Aymen Mahious (Algeria and USM Alger/Yverdon-Sport)
2. Oussama Benbot (Algeria and USM Alger)
3. Zineddine Belaid (Algeria and USM Alger)
4. Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Young Africans/Pyramids)
5. Makabi Lilepo (DR Congo and Al Hilal/Valenciennes)
6. Hussein El Shahat (Egypt and Al Ahly)
7. Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
8. Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
9. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
10. Mostafa Fathi (Egypt and Pyramids)
11. Djigui Diarra (Mali and Young Africans)
12. Yahia Attiyat Allah (Morocco and Wydad Club Athletic)
13. Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
14. Youssef El Motie (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
15. Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
16. Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
17. Ranga Chivaviro (South Africa and Marumo Gallants/Kaizer Chiefs)
18. Ronwen Williams (South Africa and Mamelodi Sundowns)
19. Ali Maaloul (Tunisia and Al Ahly)
20. Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Esperance Sportive de Tunis/Ferencvaros)
Young Player of the Year:
1. Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso and Bournemouth)
2. Souleymane Alio (Burkina Faso and New Stars)
3. Ernest Nuamah (Ghana and Olympique Lyon)
4. Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Morocco and Bétis)
5. Bilal El Khannous (Morocco and Genk)
6. Gift Orban (Nigeria and KAA Gent)
7. Lamine Camara (Senegal and Génération Foot/Metz)
8. Pape Amadou Diallo (Senegal and Génération Foot/Metz)
9. Pape Demba Diop (Senegal and Zulte Waregem)
10. Amara Diouf (Senegal and Génération Foot)
Coach of the Year:
1. Abdelhak Benchikha (USM Alger)
2. Marcel Koller (Al Ahly)
3. Juan Micha Obiang (Equatorial Guinea)
4. Tom Saintfiet (Gambia)
5. Baciro Cande (Guinea-Bissau)
6. Amir Abdou (Mauritania)
7. Walid Regragui (Morocco)
8. Chiquinho Conde (Mozambique)
9. Aliou Cissé (Senegal)
10. Pape Thiaw (Senegal)
National Team of the Year:
1. Cape Verde
2. Gambia
3. Guinea-Bissau
4. Equatorial Guinea
5. Mauritania
6. Morocco
7. Mozambique
8. Namibia
9. Senegal
10. Tanzania
Club of the Year:
1. CR Belouizdad (Algeria)
2. USM Alger (Algeria)
3. ASEC Mimosas (Côte d’Ivoire)
4. Al Ahly (Egypt)
5. Raja Club Athletic (Morocco)
6. Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)
7. Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
8. Marumo Gallants (South Africa)
9. Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia)
10. Young Africans (Tanzania)
Just to recall, at the last Awards Gala in July 2022 in Rabat, Morocco, Senegalese player Sadio Mané was honored as the CAF African Player of the Year, while Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala won the CAF African Women’s Player of the Year title for the fifth time, setting a record.