At the Glo-CAF Awards 2015 by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), about Six Nigerians were on Monday in Abuja, Nigeria shortlisted for the award.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Confederation of African Football, organisers of the most prestigious annual African footballer of the year award and its exclusive sponsor, Globacom, the Next Generation Network, announced the names at a joint press conference held at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja on Monday.
- They include Coach Emmanuel Amuneke (Coach of the year)
- Kelechi Nwakali and Victor Osimhen (Youth Player of the Year)
- Ngozi Ebere (Women Player of the Year)
- The duo of Azubuike Okechukwu and Etebo Oghenekaro (Most Promising Talent).Also released were the names of the top three players competing for the prized crown of African Footballer of the year Award.
CAF also released names of top three finalists for the Africa-based ‘Player of the Year’ Award. They are: Mbwana Aly Samatta of Tanzania and TP Mazembe, Baghdad Bounedjah of Algeria and Etoile du Sahel and Robert Kidiaba of Dmocratic Republic of Congo and TP Mazembe.
The three nominees announced by CAF Executive Committee Member, Mr. Moucharafou Anjorin, are Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon & Borrussia Dortmund of Germany, four-time African Player of the Year, Yaya Toure of Cote d’Ivoire and Manchester City and Andrew Ayew of Ghana and Swansea City FC.
The list also include the nominees for other categories of the Awards. Shortlisted for Women Player of the Year are the duo of Gabrielle Onguene and Gaelle Enganamouit of Cameroon, Ngozi Ebere of Nigeria, N’rehy Tia Ines of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana’s Portia Boakye while the Youth Player of the Year nominees has Adama Traore of Mali, Kelechi Nwakali of Nigeria, Samuel Diarra of Mali, Victor Osimhen of Nigeria and Yaw Yeboah of Ghana as nominees. The list was prepared through a vigorous selection process by the Technical, Football and Media Committees of CAF, taking into account the performance of the players for their national teams and clubs from January to November of each year.
Nominees for the Coach of the Year Award are: Baye Ba of Mali Under 17 team, Emmanuel Amuneke of Nigeria’s Under 17 team, Fawzi Benzarti of Etoile Sportive du Sahel, Herve Renard of Cote d’Ivoire and Patrice Carteron of TP Mazembe, while Azubuike Okechukwu of Nigeria, Djigui Diarra of Mali, Etebo Oghenekaro of Nigeria, Mahmoud Abdelmonem of Egypt, and Zinedine Ferhat of Algeria were shortlisted for the Most Promising Player of Year Award.
Others are African Legend Award which will be decided between Charles Kumi Gyamfi of Ghana and Samuel Mbappe Leppe of Cameroon and National Team of the Year Award which will be contested for by Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali U-17, Nigeria U-17 and Nigeria U-23 teams.
The quartet of USMA of Algeria, TP Mazembe of DR Congo, Orlando Pirates of South Africa and Etoile Sportive du Sahel of Tunisia have been nominated for Club of the Year Award while Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa and Zimbabwe were nominated in the Women National Team of the Year category.
Five referees including Alioum of Cameroon, Bakary Papa Gassama of Gambia, Eric Arnaud Otogo Castane of Gabon, Ghead Zaglol Grisha of Egypt and Janny Sikazwe of Zambia will compete for the Referee of The Year Award.
The prestigious Platinum Award will be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria for being the host President and for his passionate commitment to the development of football.
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″]The Glo-CAF Awards gala has become one of the world’s most iconic sports awards ceremonies, providing Africa with a reputable forum for recognising and rewarding excellence in the various departments of football.[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]Globacom Limited and CAF have been in partnership for the past eleven years, and have worked together to make the African Best Football Player Awards glamorous, thereby stimulating the growth of African football.[/vc_column][/vc_row]
Globacom’s Business Director, North West, Mr. Kemi Kaka who represented the company at the occasion, said that “This is the eleventh year of Glo-CAF partnership and we at Glo take pride in the significant strides our alliance with CAF has achieved in raising the quality and popularity of football in Africa.”
Kaka said: “Globacom will continue to use its clout in sports sponsorships in Africa to encourage people in sports, African Culture and business to excel.”
The King will be crowned at the Awards Night holding at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on 7th January, 2016.