The Confederation of African Football have postponed the announcement of the three players shortlisted from the list of five nominees gunning for the 2005 African Footballer of the Year and other categories.

The CAF media and technical committees were expected make known the three shortlisted players from the five nominees on 19 November.

But a statement by CAF says the announcement would be made at a later date.

Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien was named as one of the five nominees for the 2005 African Footballer of the Year.

Essien?s Chelsea teammate, Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast was also selected alongside, Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon.

The other two are Togo's Emmanuel Adebayor of Monaco and Moroccan Marouane Chamakh who plays for Bordeaux.

Barcelona striker Eto'o has won the last two editions of the awards, in 2003 and 2004.

Nominees for the other award categories include the Young Player award and Coach of the Year will be announced later in the year.

The African Footballer of the Year will be chosen by the coaches of CAF's 53-member countries and announced as the highlight of the gala evening in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on 9 January.