Sundowns duo, Chiefs star, Tau, and two PSL clubs nominated for CAF awards

South African football is well represented in the 2023 CAF awards nominations, with two DStv Premiership clubs and three players all in the running for top accolades, including Al Ahly star Percy Tau.

CAF announced the nominations of the illustrious awards for 2023 on Wednesday, with Ronwen Williams and Tau flying the flag for the SA contingent.

The awards ceremony is scheduled for 11 December in Morocco, Marrakech with players who performed well for their respective teams between November 2022 and September 2023 set to be honoured.

The Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana captain Williams will be going up against several top names in the Goalkeeper of the Year and interclub Player of the Year awards.

Williams led the Tswhane giants to the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League, where they suffered elimination via the away goal rule against Wydad Casablanca. He made nine appearances and kept two clean sheets while also making some crucial saves to lead by example.

And for the Goalkeeper of the Year award, Williams is nominated alongside Andre Onana of Manchester United, Mohamed ElShenawy of Al Ahly, and former Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy.

WILLIAMS, SHALULILE, TAU, AND CHIVAVIRO MAKE SHORTLIST FOR CAF AWARDS

Another Sundowns star, Peter Shaluile, also received a nod for the prestigious interclub Player of the Year going along with Kaizer Chiefs striker Ranga Chivaviro and Tau.

Shalulile was the key to Sundowns reaching the last four of the Champions League as he scored six goals with a single assist to his name in eight appearances. As a result of his top displays on the field, the Namibian hitman’s name is also on the list of nominations for the CAF Player of the Year.

He will have to fight out competition from big-name players such as Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Salah, Thomas Partey, Achraf Hakimi, Sadio Mane, and Tau.

Tau was instrumental in the attack as Al Ahly won the Champions League as he netted five goals and provided five assists.

Meanwhile, Chivaviro, who also occupies a spot in the Interclub Player of the Year had a fairytale run with Marumo Gallants in the CAF Confederation Cup last campaign. His exploits in the Confed Cup saw him attract interest from many big clubs. Chivaviro settled for Amakhosi after seven goals in 10 matches in the interclub competition.

On the other hand, Chivaviro’s former club Gallants have been named among the 10 nominates for the Club of the Year award with Mamelodi Sundowns also making the list.

Gallants, who were relegated to the Motsepe Foundation Championsship last season surprised many as they went all the way to the semi-finals of the Confed Cup. The Limpopo side lost to Yanga SC of Tananzia.

FULL List of Nominees

Player of the Year

1. Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund)
2. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli)
3. Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)
4. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli)
5. Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas)
6. Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest)
7. Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire and Al Nassr)
8. Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille)
9. Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids)
10. Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
11. Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
12. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
13. Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
14. Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham United)
15. Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal)
16. Serhou Guirassy (Guinea and VfB Stuttgart)
17. Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur)
18. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
19. Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco and Olympique Marseille)
20. Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Galatasaray)
21. Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco and Manchester United)
22. Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
23. Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal)
24. Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco and Sevilla)
25. Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
26. Victor Osimhen (Nigeria and SSC Napoli)
27. Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr)
28. Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal and Tottenham Hotspur)
29. Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
30. Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Ferencvaros)

Goalkeeper of the Year

1. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
2. Yassine Bounou (Morocco & Al Hilal)
3. Andre Onana (Cameroon and Manchester United)
4. Ronwen Williams (South Africa and Mamelodi Sundowns)
5. Edouard Mendy (Senegal and Al Ahli)
6. Oussama Benbot (Algeria and USM Alger)
7. Youssef El Motie (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
8. Djigui Diarra (Mali and Young Africans)
9. Pape Mamadou Sy (Senegal and Generation Foot)
10. Landing Badji (Senegal and AS Pikine)

Interclub Player of the Year

1. Aymen Mahious (Algeria and USM Alger/Yverdon-Sport)
2. Oussama Benbot (Algeria and USM Alger)
3. Zineddine Belaid (Algeria and USM Alger)
4. Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Young Africans/Pyramids)
5. Makabi Lilepo (DR Congo and Al Hilal/Valenciennes)
6. Hussein El Shahat (Egypt and Al Ahly)
7. Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
8. Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
9. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
10. Mostafa Fathi (Egypt and Pyramids)
11. Djigui Diarra (Mali and Young Africans)
12. Yahia Attiyat Allah (Morocco and Wydad Club Athletic)
13. Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
14. Youssef El Motie (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
15. Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
16. Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
17. Ranga Chivaviro (South Africa and Marumo Gallants/Kaizer Chiefs)
18. Ronwen Williams (South Africa and Mamelodi Sundowns)
19. Ali Maaloul (Tunisia and Al Ahly)
20. Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Esperance Sportive de Tunis /Ferencvaros)

Young Player of the Year

1. Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso and Bournemouth)
2. Souleymane Alio (Burkina Faso and New Stars)
3. Ernest Nuamah (Ghana & Olympique Lyonnais)
4. Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Morocco and Betis)
5. Bilal El Khannous (Morocco and Genk)
6. Gift Orban (Nigeria and KAA Gent)
7. Lamine Camara (Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz)
8. Pape Amadou Diallo (Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz)
9. Pape Demba Diop (Senegal and Zulte Waregem)
10. Amara Diouf (Senegal and Generation Foot)

Coach of the Year

1. Abdelhak Benchikha (USM Alger)
2. Marcel Koller (Al Ahly)
3. Juan Micha Obiang (Equatorial Guinea)
4. Tom Saintfiet (The Gambia)
5. Baciro Cande (Guinea Bissau)
6. Amir Abdou (Mauritania)
7. Walid Regragui (Morocco)
8. Chiquinho Conde (Mozambique)
9. Aliou Cisse (Senegal)
10. Pape Thiaw (Senegal – CHAN)

National Team of the Year

1. Cape Verde
2. The Gambia
3. Guinea Bissau
4. Equatorial Guinea
5. Mauritania
6. Morocco
7. Mozambique
8. Namibia
9. Senegal
10. Tanzania

Club of the Year Men

1. CR Belouizdad (Algeria)
2. USM Alger (Algeria)
3. ASEC Mimosas (Cote d’Ivoire)
4. Al Ahly (Egypt)
5. Raja Club Athletic (Morocco)
6. Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)
7. Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
8. Marumo Gallants (South Africa)
9. Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia)
10. Young Africans (Tanzania)

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