Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong is out of the running for the Confederation of African Football’s player of the year award after his name was missing from the final list of five Nominees unveiled by the continent’s governing body for football on Monday.
Troost-Ekong, who was voted player of the last Africa Cup of Nations, will now hope his compatriot, Ademola Lookman wins next month.
Lookman tops the list of the five nominees after helping Nigeria reach their first Africa Cup of Nations’ Final tournament with his three decisive goals and inspired his Serie A club, Atalanta to the Europa League glory, scoring the three goals in the final.
Also listed to battle it out with Lookman are Simon Adingra of Cote d’Ivoire and Brighton, Serhou Guirassy of Guinea and Borussia Dortmund, Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain as well as South Afica’s Ronwen Williams.
Lookman will be looking to succeed his compatriot, Victor Osimhen who won last year.
The 2024 edition of the CAF Awards is set to take place in Marrakech, Morocco on 16 December 2024.
Other categories announced on Monday include Goalkeeper of the Year, Interclub Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Young Player of the Year, Club of the Year, National Team of the Year.
Nigerian’s Stanley Nwabali will contend for the Goalkeeper of the Year Award with Cameroon’s Andre Onana, Yahia Fofana of Cote d’Ivoire, Egyptian Mostafa Shobeir and South African Ronwen Wlliams.
Nigeria, Cote d’ivoire, DR Congo, South Africa and Sudan will jostle for the National Team of the Year.
The glittering ceremony designed to celebrate African football excellence recognizes exceptional performances in both club and national competitions, culminating in the prestigious tites of CAF African Player of the Year in both the men’s and women’s categories.
A total of seven (7) categories have been confirmed by CAF in the Men’s Category of the awards, shortlisting the five top performing players, coaches and teams in each of the categories.
The CAF Awards 2024 cover the period between January 2024 and October 2024.