AmaZulu striker Gabadinho Mhango has failed to honour an invitation to attend the 2022 CAF Awards gala scheduled for Morocco on Thursday evening.
Gabadinho Mhango has told The Nation newspaper in Malawi that the Confederation of African Football (CAF)’s invitation came at short notice for him to travel to Rabat.
“Unfortunately, I only got the communication on Wednesday, and I am here in Polokwane where we are camping and to confirm my availability and then arrange travel would have been a challenge,” he is quoted as saying.
Nonetheless, the former Wits frontman said he felt honoured to earn a nomination for the 2022 CAF Goal of the Year Award.
The 29-year-old earned the final shortlist alongside Senegalese Pap Ousmane Sakho of Simba in Tanzania and Moroccan Zouhair El Noutaraji of Wydad Athletic.
The former Orlando Pirates player was shortlisted for the wonder goal he scored at Cameroon’s delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals earlier this year.
The Malawian scored when Malawi lost 2-1 to Morocco in a round-of-16 match in Cameroon on January 25 2022.
According to CAF, fans cast their votes online via cafawards2022-goty.com to decide the winner.
The former Bloemfontein Celtic player finished with three goals from three AFCON matches in Cameroon. Still, his red-hot form meant nothing to the Pirates co-coaches Mandla Ncicazi and Fadlu Davids, who continued to consign the Malawian to the periphery, leading to his exit.
Gabadinho is bidding to emulate Clifton Msiya, the only Malawian to have won such an award at the 1984 Cote d’Ivoire AFCON finals.
Msiya danced his way past the then impregnable Nigerian roadblock Stephen Keshi in full flight with the ball glued to his feet to score a wonder goal.
The AFCON game between Malawi and Nigeria ended two-all.
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