The 28th edition of CAF annual football awards will take place on Tuesday, 7 January 2020, at Albatros Citadel Sahl Hasheesh, Hurghada, Egypt.

The CAF awards celebrate African footballers and officials who have distinguished themselves during 2019.

The list of nominees is compiled by a panel of media and technical professionals. It features several award categories for men’s and women’s football including: African Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Youth Player of the Year, National Team of the Year, Goal of the Year, Africa Finest XI, Federation of the Year and several new award categories which will recognise exceptional contributions to African football and inspiring individuals.

The CAF Awards is an annual ritual meant to honor footballers and officials who have excelled in various departments of the game, as well as making meaningful contributions to its development throughout the continent.

The awards, which dates back to 1992 when the best African Footballer of the Year was recognized, has expanded to other categories with the inclusion of women footballers for their enormous contribution to the game.

The shortlist of top three nominees for each award category was reached following votes from a CAF Technical & Development Committee and a panel of media experts with emphasis on the nominees’ performance during the year under review, 2019.

It also included votes from a select panel of CAF Legends, made up of former winners of the prestigious African Player of the Year award. The legends took part in the voting process for the Player of the Year (Men & Women).

The final phase of voting for the men’s and women’s African Player of the Year, as well as the male and female Coach of the Year, will be selected by Head Coaches/Technical Directors and Captains of senior national teams from CAF Member Associations.

Meanwhile, the Interclubs Player of the Year will be decided upon by the Head Coaches and Captains of the group phase of the current season of CAF Interclubs competitions.

The top three (3) contenders for all the categories are as follows (in alphabetical order):

African Player of the Year

Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)

Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)

African Women’s Player of the Year

Ajara Nchout (Cameroon & Valerenga)

Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Barcelona)

Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Beijing Phoenix FC)

African Interclubs Player of the Year

Anice Badri (Tunisia & Esperance)

Tarek Hamed (Egypt & Zamalek)

Youcef Belaïli (Algeria & Esperance / Ahli Jeddah)

African Youth Player of the Year

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmund)

Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria & Villarreal)

Victor Osimhen (Nigeria & Lille)

African Men’s Coach of the Year

Aliou Cisse (Senegal - Senegal)

Djamel Belmadi (Algeria - Algeria)

Moïne Chaâbani (Tunisia - Esperance)

African Women’s Coach of the Year

Alain Djeumfa (Cameroon)

Desiree Ellis (South Africa)

Thomas Dennerby (Nigeria)

African Men’s National Team of the Year

Algeria

Madagascar

Senegal

African Women’s National Team of the Year

Cameroon

Nigeria

South Africa