The Confederation of African Football (CAF) issued the final lists for the Best Player Award in 2023 on the African continent, and it witnessed a major surprise when Riyad Mahrez was excluded from the candidates for the Best Player in Africa award.
Mahrez had achieved the historic treble with Manchester City, only to emerge in the past months and be considered the most deserving of the best award based on this achievement, noting that it is a greater achievement than any other achievements of African players.
However, CAF shocked everyone after announcing that the trio, Achraf Hakimi, the Paris Saint-Germain star, Victor Osimhen, the Napoli star, and Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool star, were the candidates for the Best Player in Africa Award 2023.
Hakimi led the Moroccan national team to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while Osimhen was Napoli's first champion by winning the first Italian league title since 1990, while Mohamed Salah achieved distinguished individual numbers, even if his season with Liverpool was not the best.
On the other hand, Egyptian Mohamed El-Shenawy will compete with Moroccan Yacine Bounou and Cameroonian Andre Onana for the Best Goalkeeper in Africa 2023 award.
As for the Best Player Award from within Africa, the final list included the names of Percy Tau, the Al-Ahly player, and Peter Shalweli, the Sun Downs player, in addition to Feston Miley, the Pyramids player.
Walid Regragui, coach of the Moroccan national team, is competing with Algerian Abdelhak Ben Sheikha, who led USM to the Confederation title, and Aliou Cisse, coach of Senegal, for the Best Coach in Africa 2023 award.
It remains to be noted that the awards ceremony will be held in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on December 12th.
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