Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman made the cut as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the top five nominees for the 2024 African Player of the Year award on Monday, Afrosport reports.
Lookman, who is the frontrunner to win the award having enjoyed a spectacular season with both club and country, is joined by Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast), Serhou Guirassy (Guinea), and Ronwen Williams (South Africa).
Meanwhile, Lookman’s Super Eagles teammate William Troost-Ekong has been dropped after making the initial 10-man shortlist released by CAF in October. Other notable omissions include Burkina Faso defender Edmond Tapsoba as well as DR Congo international Chancel Mbemba.
𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 (𝗠𝗲𝗻) – 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁#CAFAwards2024 pic.twitter.com/0MGgFEJ3d8
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) November 18, 2024
The 2024 CAF Awards, which will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, on December 16, will consider performances from the period within January 2024 and October 2024, with a new recipient expected to dethrone Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen.
CAF also revealed the final five shortlist across other categories, with Bafana Bafana shots-stopper Williams still in the running for the Goalkeeper of the Year and Interclub Player of the Year awards.
The 32-year-old will battle Cameroon’s Andre Onana, Yahia Fofana of Ivory Coast, Egypt’s Mostafa Shobeir and Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabali in the goalkeeper category. However, for the CAF Interclub award, Williams will contend with Issoufou Dayo (Burkina Faso), Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed (Egypt), Hussein El Shahat (Egypt), and Mostafa Shobeir (Egypt).
𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 (𝗠𝗲𝗻) – 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁#CAFAwards2024 pic.twitter.com/EDfFflByiO
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) November 18, 2024
The final five shortlist for the Men’s National Team of the Year includes reigning African champions Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and DR Congo.
Meanwhile, the Coach of the Year shortlist has Pedro Goncalves (Angola), Emerse Fae (Ivory Coast), Sebastien Desabre (DR Congo), Marcel Koller (Al Ahly), and Hugo Broos (South Africa).
𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 (𝗠𝗲𝗻) – 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁#CAFAwards2024 pic.twitter.com/JUrzVOquzP
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) November 18, 2024
Full nomination shortlist for 2024 CAF Awards:
Player of the Year
Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast)
Serhou Guirassy (Guinea)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
Ademola Lookman (Nigeria)
Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Goalkeeper of the Year
Andre Onana (Cameroon)
Yahia Fofana (Ivory Coast)
Mostafa Shobeir (Egypt)
Stanley Nwabali (Nigeria)
Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Interclub Player of the Year
Issoufou Dayo (Burkina Faso)
Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed (Egypt)
Hussein El Shahat (Egypt)
Mostafa Shobeir (Egypt)
Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Coach of the Year
Pedro Goncalves (Angola)
Emerse Fae (Ivory Coast)
Sebastien Desabre (DR Congo)
Marcel Koller (Al Ahly)
Hugo Broos (South Africa)
Young Player of the Year
Karim Konate (Ivory Coast)
Oumar Diakite (Ivory Coast)
Yankuba Minteh (Gambia)
Eliesse Ben Seghir (Morocco)
Lamine Camara (Senegal)
Club of the Year
Al Ahly (Egypt)
Zamalek (Egypt)
RS Berkane (Morocco)
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia)
National Team of the Year
Ivory Coast
DR Congo
Nigeria
South Africa
Sudan
