By Abdi Ali
Published January 5, 2018
Mohamed Salah, an Egyptian international who plays for the English Premier League team, Liverpool Football Club, has beaten Senegal’s Sadio Mane who also plays for Liverpool FC and Gabon’s Pierre Emerick Aubameyang who turns out for German side, Borussia Dortmund FC, to the second and third places, respectively, in an all-Africa awards for footballers.
Egypt’s national team, The Pharaohs, and national team coach,Hector Cuper, won National team of the Year and Coach of the Year awards of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in a ceremony held in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on January 4, 2018.
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But questions were raised over how Nigerian Assisat Oshoola who plays for China’s Dalian Quanjian could have been crowned Female Player of the Year without having played a single match in the year under consideration.
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Others declared winners in a ceremony held at the International Conference Centre on Thursday night include:
Young African Footballer of the Year: Patson Daka (Zambia)
Women’s National Team Of The Year: Bayana Bayana (South Africa)
Football Leader of the Year: Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania)
CAF Legends Award: Ibrahim Sunday (Ghana)
Club of the Year: Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco
Platinum Award: George Weah, Liberia’s President-Elect and Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana
Africa’s Finest XI: Aymen Mathlouthi (Tunisia, Etoile Sahel); Ahmed Fathy (Egypt, Al Ahly); Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast, Manchester United/England); Ali Maaloul (Tunisia, Al Ahly/Egypt); Mohamed Ounnajem (Morocco, Wydad Casablanca); Karim el Ahmadi (Morocco, Feyenoord/Holland); Junior Ajayi (Nigeria, Al Ahly/Egypt); Achraf Bencharki (Morocco, Wydad Casablanca); Khalid Boutaib (Morocco, Yeni Malatyaspor/Turkey); Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool/England); and Taha Yassine Khenissi (Tunisia, Esperance).