The Confederation of African Football (Caf) Men's Player of the Year award for 2021–2022 has 30 nominees, including former Liverpool teammates Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
Mane, who only week joined German champions Bayern Munich, has recently outperformed Salah on the international stage, as Senegal defeated Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations final in February before triumphing in their 2022 World Cup play-off match the following month.
The awards were canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic in 2019, when the Senegalese received the title of Africa's best man. Nigeria's Asisat Oshoala took home the women's trophy at that time.
In club competition, Mane and Salah, both 30 years old, triumphed in England's FA Cup and League Cup last year but just missed winning the Premier League before the Reds fell to Real Madrid in the European Champions League final.
Salah, who has won the award twice, shared the Premier League Golden Boot at the end of the club season with Tottenham Hotspur and South Korean striker Son Heung-min.
The Football Writers' Association and the Professional Footballers' Association both awarded the Egyptian Player of the Season honors.
Riyad Mahrez of Algeria, a Premier League champion with Manchester City, is also featured on a list where The Gambia and Comoros, two of Africa's historically poorer nations, have uncommon representation thanks to Musa Barrow and Youssouf M'Changama's impressive Nations Cup debuts.Franck Kessie of Ivory Coast, Achraf Hakimi of PSG, and Vincent Aboubakar of Cameroon, who became the first player to score eight goals in a single Nations Cup in more than 50 years, are all included on the list.
Several other men's categories, including Young Player and Coach of the Year, were also covered by the Caf's lists.
Senegal, the reigning African champions, has the most nominees on the Caf list, with four players joining Mane: goalkeeper Edouard Mendy of Chelsea, midfielder Nampalys Mendy of Leicester City, Saliou Ciss, and Kalidou Koulibaly.
The women's category nominees will be revealed in due course, and the awards ceremony will take place on July 21 in Rabat, Morocco, just before the conclusion of the next Women's Africa Cup of Nations.
A jury of Caf luminaries, technical specialists, and journalists selected the lists, which encompass performances from September 2021 through June of this year.
The Caf technical committee, media experts, head coaches, and captains of member associations and clubs competing in the group stages of continental competition will serve as the voting panel that determines the champions of each category.
Other nominees include (in non-alphabetic order by member association):
Player of the Year (Men)
- Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
- Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Aston Villa)
- Blati Toure (Burkina Faso & Pyramids)
- Edmund Tapsoba (Burkina Faso & Bayer Leverkusen)
- Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon & Napoli)
- Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Lyon)
- Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)
- Youssouf M'Changama (Comoros & Guingamp)
- Franck Kessie (Ivory Coast & AC Milan)
- Sebastien Haller (Ivory Coast & Ajax)
- Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt & Al Ahly)
- Mohamed Elneny (Egypt & Arsenal)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
- Mohamed El Shenawy (Egypt & Al Ahly)
- Musa Barrow (The Gambia & Bologna)
- Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)
- Aliou Dieng (Mali & Al Ahly)
- Hamari Traore (Mali & Rennes)
- Yves Bissouma (Mali & Tottenham Hotspur)
- Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris St-Germain)
- Sofiane Boufal (Morocco & Angers)
- Yahya Jabrane (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club)
- Yassine Bounou (Morocco & Sevilla)
- Moses Simon (Nigeria & Nantes)
- Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea)
- Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)
- Nampalys Mendy (Senegal & Leicester City)
