Immediate past Super Falcons coach Florence Omagbemi has been included in a 10-man shortlist for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach 2017 by World’s Football governing body, FIFA.
Omagbemi who steered the team to their 8th African title in Cameroon last December has been recognised for her achievement by the global body alongside nine other coaches in the shortlist revealed on Thursday at the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich.
Omagbemi who captained the Falcons to win the inaugural African Women Championships in Abeokuta in 1998 became the first person to win the tournament as a player and as a coach when her wards beat host Cameroon in the final on December 3.
She will contest with nine other candidates in the running for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach award to be announced at The Best FIFA Football Awards™ ceremony on Monday 23 October.
Omagbemi will battle with other national team coaches such as newly crowned UEFA Women’s EURO Champions, Sarina Wiegman of the Netherlands and the beaten finalist Nils Nielsen of Denmark.
“The winner of this award, and the other men’s and women’s player and coach categories, will be chosen by a process involving the four main stakeholders involved in football: national team coaches, captains, selected media and the fans. That’s right, YOU have a say in deciding who will be The Best FIFA Women’s Coach 2017. Voting starts on Monday 21 August, when you can make your choice on FIFA.com.”
“Voting closes on 7 September, with the women’s awards taking the period 20 November 2016 to 6 August 2017 inclusive into account. The final lists of three nominees for the men’s and women’s player and coach categories – as well as for the FIFA Puskás Award, the FIFA Fan Award and the brand new The Best FIFA Goalkeeper Award – will be announced in mid-September,” read a statement on FIFA’s website.
Other contestants on The Best FIFA Women’s Coach 2017 category include:
* Olivier Echouafni (FRA – French national team)
* Emma Hayes (ENG – Chelsea Ladies)
* Ralf Kellermann (GER – VfL Wolfsburg)
* Xavi Llorens (ESP – FC Barcelona Femeni)
* Gerard Precheur (FRA – Olympique Lyonnais Feminin)
* Dominik Thalhammer (AUT – Austrian national team)
* Hwang Yong-Bong (PRK – Korea DPR / Korea DPR U-20 national teams)
