January 5 – Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah won the 2017 CAF African Football Player of the Year Award. Egypt’s Hector Cuper was named Coach of the Year and for a third time Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala won the Women’s Player of the Year award.
It was written in the stars and to no one’s surprise Salah won the chief award at CAF’s gala night. The 25-year-old was pivotal in Egypt’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup. He also helped The Pharaohs to reach the 2017 African Cup of Nations final. The award was a reward for a superb year for both club and country.
The Egyptian finished ahead of his Liverpool team-mate and Senegal star Sadio Mane. The two players from Anfield Road attended the ceremony in Accra, Ghana’s capital. On Friday Liverpool will play the Merseyside derby against Everton in the third round of the FA Cup. Mane has been ruled out of action due to injury.
Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang‚ winner in 2015‚ finished as third. Salah polled 625 points against 507 from Mane whilst Aubameyang finished a distant third with 311 points. The final phase of voting was opened up to the public. Egyptians voted in huge number for their favourite man. In earlier rounds a mixture of CAF officials, independent journalists, national team coaches and captains had made their picks.
“Winning this award is a dream come true, 2017 was an unbelievable year for me,” said Salah. “I would like to dedicate it to all the kids in Africa and Egypt, I want to tell them to never stop dreaming, never stop believing.”
There were no bombshells in other categories either. Argentinean coach Cuper, who led Egypt to the finals in Russia, won the Coach of the Year award, beating Gernot Rorh, who coached Nigeria to World Cup qualification, and Hussein Amotta, the coach of Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club. The Women’s Player of the Year award was won yet again by the former Liverpool and Arsenal star Asisat Oshoala of Nigeria. Today, she plies her trade at Dalian Quanjian in China.
Oshoala came in for a dose of criticism following her move to the Far East, but defended herself, stating that the award was proof she had made the right decision. She defeated Cameroon’s Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene and South Africa’s Chrestina Kgatlana to claim the top prize.
Egypt and South Africa (Banyana Banyana) were the National Teams of the Year, Wydad Athletic Club, the African champions, the Club of the Year and Zambia’s Pato Daka the Youth Player of the Year.
The CAF Awards were not without controversy. Africa’s governing body had removed the Africa-based Player of the Year and referee categories from the awards. CAF president Ahmad had to defend the decision on the eve of the awards. He explained the rationale behind the decision as the promotion of strong competition and to avoid corruption.
“It’s very simple, we want to promote African football,” said Ahmad about the Africa-based player of the year category. “There’s not two levels of football in Africa. Best is best, not best for the bad or best for the best. That’s the reason.”
The CAF president also elaborated about the removal of the referees award. “The referees already have their own awards by being recognised for high profile games,” said Ahmad. “Based on the locations of the referee, they’re rewarded with – say for example – the champions league quarter-finals and subsequent games. Another argument is that it is unethical. The committee believes that by giving referees awards, it may lead to some corruption at a latter stage.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713516529labto1713516529ofdlr1713516529owedi1713516529sni@i1713516529tnuk.1713516529ardni1713516529mas1713516529