CAF Awards 2024: Lookman, Hakimi, and Tapsoba lead African Player of the Year nominations

According to the list released Thursday evening by the Confederation of African Football, the trio will vie for the prestigious award at the CAF Awards ceremony set to take place in Morocco this December.

Other nominees include Nigeria's stand-in captain William Troost-Ekong, the MVP of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, Algeria’s Amine Gouiri (Rennes), Cote d'Ivoire’s Simon Adingra (Brighton & Hove Albion), and Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy, who plays for Borussia Dortmund.

Rounding out the list are South Africa’s Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns), Morocco’s Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain), and DR Congo’s Chancel Mbemba (Olympique Marseille).

Unfortunately, reigning African Player of the Year Victor Osimhen did not make the shortlist, nor did Bayer Leverkusen's Victor Boniface, despite his pivotal role in the club's Bundesliga victory and their Europa League final appearance.

CAF further clarified that the awards will recognize performances from the period between January 2024 and October 2024.

The finalists for the Goalkeeper of the Year category include South Africa's Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns), Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United), Cameroon’s Andre Onana (Manchester United), DR Congo’s Lionel Mpasi (Rodez AF), Tunisia’s Amanallah Memmiche (Esperance), Algeria’s Oussama Benbot (USM Alger), Egypt’s Mostafa Shobeir (Al Ahly), Mali’s Djigui Diarra (Young Africans), Côte d'Ivoire’s Yahia Fofana (Angers), and Morocco’s Munir El Kajoui (RS Berkane).

Williams will be aiming for a hat-trick of awards, as he is also nominated for CAF’s Interclub Player of the Year. He is joined by Algeria’s Oussama Benbot (USM Alger), Burkina Faso’s Issoufou Dayo (RS Berkane), Egypt’s Ahmed Sayed 'Zizo' (Zamalek), Egypt’s Hussein El Shahat (Al Ahly), Egypt’s Mostafa Shobeir (Al Ahly), Ghana’s Abdul Aziz Issah (Dreams FC), Ghana’s John Antwi (Dreams FC), Tunisia’s Amanallah Memmiche (Esperance), and Tunisia’s Yassine Merriah (Esperance Sportive).

The shortlist for the Men's National Team of the Year includes reigning African champions Côte d’Ivoire, along with Nigeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Sudan, and Uganda.

The Coach of the Year shortlist features Pedro Goncalves (Angola), Brahima Traore (Burkina Faso), Emerse Fae (Côte d'Ivoire), Sebastien Desabre (DR Congo), Jose Gomes (Zamalek), Marcel Koller (Al Ahly), Chiquinho Conde (Mozambique), Hugo Broos (South Africa), Florent Ibenge (Al Hilal), and Kwesi Appiah (Sudan).

Petro Atletico (Angola), TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Al Ahly (Egypt), Zamalek (Egypt), Dreams FC (Ghana), RS Berkane (Morocco), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Simba (Tanzania), Young Africans (Tanzania), and Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia) will compete for the Men's Club of the Year honours.