England based Nigerian duo; Alex Iwobi and Wilfred Ndidi have made the final shortlists in their respective categories of the 2018 aiteo CAF Awards scheduled to hold in Dakar, Senegal next month.
Iwobi who stars for Arsenal was named in a ten-man shortlist for the flagship African Player of the Year award alongside favourites Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane in the list released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Friday morning.
Midfielder Ndidi who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Sunday was named among the three-man shortlist for the Young Player of the Year award and will have to beat AC Milan’s energetic midfielder Franck Kessie and Borussia Dortmund’s Achraf Hakimi to the award.
The final phase of voting for this year’s aiteo CAF Awards will involve votes from CAF Media Experts, Legends, Coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, and Coaches & Captains of the 54 Member Associations.
The Awards Gala, to honour footballers and officials who distinguished themselves during the year under review, will be held on Tuesday, 8 January 2019 in Dakar, Senegal.
Player of the Year nominees
1. Alex Iwobi (Nigeria & Arsenal)
2. Andre Onana (Cameroon & Ajax)
3. Anis Badri (Tunisia & Esperance)
4. Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)
5. Mehdi Benatia (Morocco & Juventus)
6. Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Arsenal)
8. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
9. Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
10. Walid Soliman (Egypt & Ahly)
Women’s Player of the Year
1. Abdulai Mukarama (Ghana & Northern Ladies)
2. Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Dilian Quanjian)
3. Bassira Toure (Mali & AS Mande)
4. Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Houston Dash)
5. Elizabeth Addo (Ghana & Seattle Reign)
6. Francisca Ordega (Nigeria & Washington Spirit)
7. Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene (Cameroon & CSKA Moskow)
8. Janine Van Wyk (South Africa & Houston Dash)
9. Onome Ebi (Nigeria & Hekan Huisanhang)
10. Raissa Feudjio (Cameroon & Aland United)
11. Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi & Jiangsu Suning)
Youth Player of the Year
1. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmunmd)
2. Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire & AC Milan)
3. Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria & Leicester City)
Men’s coach of the year
1. Aliou Cisse (Senegal) 2. Herve Renard (Morocco) 3. Moine Chaabani (Esperance)
Women’s coach of the year
1. Desiree Ellis (South Africa) 2. Joseph Brian Ndoko (Cameroon) 3. Thomas Dennerby (Nigeria)
Men’s National team of the Year
1. Madagascar 2. Mauritania 3. Uganda
Women’s national team of the year
1. Cameroon 2. Nigeria 3. South Africa
