CAF drops Troost-Ekong, retains Moses, Ajayi in latest shortlist

Nigeria international Victor Moses is still in the race for the African Player of the Year award but William Troost Ekong has dropped out.

The race for African Player of the Year and Player of the Year (Based in Africa) is gradually gathering momentum with the announcement of the shortlisted players for the two categories.

Eleven (11) players made the cut for the Player of the Year and Ten (10) for the Player of the Year (Based in Africa) after votes from members of the CAF Technical & Development Committee, CAF Media Experts Panel and Independent Media and TV Consultants, from the initial 30-man list.

The second and final phase will involve Head Coaches or Technical Directors of the National Associations taking part in the voting exercise and ten members from the Independent Media and TV Consultants group.

For the first time, captains of the senior men’s national teams of the affiliated National Associations will also take part in the decision-making process of the African Player of the Year and Player of the Year (Based in Africa).

 The Awards Gala will take place on Thursday, 4 January 2018 in Accra, Ghana.

African Player of the Year Shirtlist (alphabetical order)

1.     Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Olympique Lyon)                 
2.     Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)                   
3.     Karim El Ahmadi (Morocco & Feyenoord)       
4.     Keita Balde (Senegal & Monaco)                   
5.     Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
6.     Naby Keita (Guinea & RB Leipzig)     
7.     Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & B. Dortmund)
8.     Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)     
9.     Victor Moses (Nigeria & Chelsea)       
10.  Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon & Porto)         
11.  Yacine Brahimi (Algeria & Porto)