The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) has released three nominees for the flagship awards “African Footballer of the Year” for 2019.

Egypt’s and Liverpool player, Mohamed Salah, Riyad Mahrez of Algeria and Manchester City and Sadio Mane Senegal & Liverpool were the three top players nominated for the top award, together with top nominees for other categories.

The winner would be announced at the CAF Awards ceremony on Tuesday, 7 January 2020, at the Albatros Citadel Sahl Hasheesh, Hurghada, Egypt.

According to CAF, the shortlist of top three nominees for each award category was reached following votes from a CAF Technical & Development Committee and a panel of media experts with emphasis on the nominees’ performance during the year under review, 2019.

It also included votes from a select panel of CAF Legends, made up of former winners of the prestigious African Player of the Year award.

The legends took part in the voting process for the Player of the Year (Men & Women).

The final phase of voting for the men’s and women’s African Player of the Year, as well as the male and female Coach of the Year, would be selected by Head Coaches/Technical Directors and Captains of senior national teams from CAF Member Associations.

Meanwhile, the Interclubs Player of the Year would be decided upon by the Head Coaches and Captains of the group phase of the current season of CAF Interclubs competitions.

The event will celebrate African footballers and officials who have distinguished themselves during 2019. There will also be several new award categories in recognition of exceptional contributions to African football and inspiring individuals.

Below are the top three (3) contenders for all the categories are as follows (in alphabetical order):

African Player of the Year

Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)

Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)

African Women’s Player of the Year

Ajara Nchout (Cameroon & Valerenga)

Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Barcelona)

Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Beijing Phoenix FC)

African Interclubs Player of the Year

Anice Badri (Tunisia & Esperance)

Tarek Hamed (Egypt & Zamalek)

Youcef Belaïli (Algeria & Esperance / Ahli Jeddah)

African Youth Player of the Year

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmund)

Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria & Villarreal)

Victor Osimhen (Nigeria & Lille)

African Men’s Coach of the Year

Aliou Cisse (Senegal - Senegal)

Djamel Belmadi (Algeria - Algeria)

Moïne Chaâbani (Tunisia - Esperance)

African Women’s Coach of the Year

Alain Djeumfa (Cameroon)

Desiree Ellis (South Africa)

Thomas Dennerby (Nigeria)

African Men’s National Team of the Year

Algeria

Madagascar

Senegal

African Women’s National Team of the Year

Cameroon

Nigeria

South Africa