Izuchukwu OkosiThe Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Monday released the final list for the 2022 CAF Awards, with no Nigerian player on the list despite expectations that Moses, Simon will make the cut.
Nigerian duo, Moses Simon and Akinkunmi Amoo failed to make the final shortlists of the 2022 CAF Awards in a calendar year most Nigerians were shocked that Napoli’s Victor Osimhen was not even nominated despite his earlier injury setback which stopped him from playing at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Simon was shortlisted for the Men’s Player of the Year award initially, while Amoo was in the running for the Young Player of the Year award in an expanded list.
Top on the list is reigning CAF African Player of the Year, Sadio Mane, (Senegal and Bayern Munich), former winner Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Manchester City), and Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool), amongst others.
Aliou Cisse, Pitso Mosimane, Carlos Queiroz, Tom Saintfiet and Walid Regragui have made the final cut for the CAF Coach of the Year Award.
The Player of the Year and Interclub Player of the Year has ten nominees each, whilst the Young Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, National Team of the Year and Club of the Year have five nominees each.
The winners of each category will be decided by a voting panel made up of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches & Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved in the group stage of the Interclub competitions for the 2021/22 season.
The 2022 CAF Awards will be held in Rabat, Morocco on 21 July 2022.
Full List of Nominees:
Player of the Year (Men)
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Olympique Lyonnais)
Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)
Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire & Ajax)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris Saint-Germain)
Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)
Sadio Mane (Senegal & Bayern Munich)
Interclub Player of the Year (Men)
Tiago Azulao (Petro Atletico)
Karim Konate (ASEC Mimosas)
Aliou Dieng (Al Ahly)
Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly)
Percy Tau (Al Ahly)
Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly)
Mohamed El Shenawy (Al Ahly)
Achraf Dari (Wydad Athletic Club)
Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Athletic Club)
Zouheir El Moutaraji (Wydad Athletic Club)
Young Player of the Year (Men)
Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso & Lorient)
Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg)
Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes)
Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz)
Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United)
Coach of the Year (Men)
Carlos Queiroz (Egypt)
Pitso Mosimane (Al Ahly)
Tom Saintfiet (The Gambia)
Walid Regragui (Wydad Athletic Club)
Aliou Cisse (Senegal)
National Team of the Year
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Egypt
Morocco
Senegal
Club of the Year
Petro Atletico (Angola)
Al Ahly (Egypt)
RS Berkane (Morocco)
Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)
Orlando Pirates (South Africa)
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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