The Confederation of African Football (Caf) will crown its 2019 Player of the year at its awards ceremony in the Egyptian coastal resort of Hurghada on Tuesday.
Algeria’s Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez is up against the Liverpool duo of Sadio Mane of Senegal and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah for the prize.
Mane and Salah helped Liverpool win the European Cup and Club World Cup with the Egyptian striker in contention to win the prize for a third successive time.
Mahrez captained Algeria to Nations Cup success in Egypt in 2019 with Mane helping Senegal reach the final.
The women’s shortlist has also been narrowed down to three names with Ajara Nchout of Cameroon and Valerenga joined by Asisat Oshoala of Nigeria and Barcelona and South Africa’s Beijing Phoenix FC star Thembi Kgatlana.
The final phase of voting for the men’s and women’s 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.
Full list of shortlists are as follows (in alphabetical order)
Men’s Player of the Year:
Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
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
Source: BBC