The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the names of three final nominees for the 2022 African young player of the year award on Wednesday July 20, 2022.
Manchester United and Tunisian attacking midfielder Hannibal Mejbri is in contention for the continental award in which the winner will be announced on Thursday. The award ceremony of the 2022 edition of CAF awards will be held in Rabat, Morocco.
The other two nominees are Senegal’s Pape Matar Sarr and Ivory Coast’s forward Karim Konate. Sarr and Konate play for Austrian club RB Salzburg and English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspurs respectively.
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Konate was part of the Cote d’Ivoire’s squad that took part in the 2022 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament staged in Cameroon earlier this year. The 18-year-old was on the bench in The Elephants 2-2 draw against Sierra Leone and the narrow 1-0 win over their West African counterparts Equatorial Guinea.
Sarr, who has made several appearances for the reigning African champions Senegal signed a contract with Tottenham on August 27, 2021. The contract runs until 2026.
Mejbri on the other hand has enjoyed a brilliant stint with Manchester United since joining them in 2021. He has registered a total of 19 goals for the Red Devils in all competitions.
The 19-year-old was part of the Tunisian squad that was eliminated at the quarter final stage of the 2022 AFCON tournament. He made two appearances at the continental showpiece.
Senegal, Cameroon and Egypt are in contention for the men’s team of the year award. According to CAF, the ongoing Women’s African Cup of Nations (AWCON) will play a crucial role in deciding the 2022 Women’s team of the year.
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“Due to the absence of a major women’s competition during the period under review, the Organizing Team for the CAF Awards 2022 has reviewed the selection process for this important category.
"The Total Energies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco will be factored as one of the criterion in deciding a winner befitting of the status of the award and women’s football in general.
"The winner will be announced on 23 July 2022 during the final match of the Women’s AFCON,” read a press release from CAF.
Hosts Morocco and South Africa’s Banyana Banyana will face off in the final which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 23. The game will be played at 2300hrs East African Time.
Former Liverpool teammates Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, as well as Chelsea’s goalkeeper Edouard Mendy are in contention for the men’s player of the year award.
Kenyan footballers and players were not considered for the awards due to the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) wrangles which handed the country a ban by the world governing body FIFA.
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