African Player of the Year Award.. Why was Mohamed Salah excluded

African Player of the Year Award.. Why was Mohamed Salah excluded

 

The Confederation of African Football will present the award for the Best Football Player of the Year 2024 on Monday evening, having announced five nominees, among whom the Premier League's top scorer, Mohamed Salah, is notably absent.

The last time the Egyptian star won this award was in 2018, and his exclusion from this year's final list has raised eyebrows among observers, particularly given Salah's exceptional season with Liverpool.

?Who are the candidates

 In 2023, his exclusion from this year's final list has perplexed observers, particularly as Salah is delivering an exceptional season with Liverpool FC. 

Who are the nominees? 

-Promotion 

Advertisements by 

(Saint-Denis) Simon Adingra 

Nigeria's Ademola Lookman 

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) 

Serhou Guirassy (Guinea) 

Ronwen Williams (South Africa) 

Why is Salah absent from the nominations? 

The African Football Confederation has weighted the nominations based on players' performances during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as their scoring rates and achievements with their domestic clubs in the preceding season. 

The Egyptian national team was eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations in the Round of 16 due to Salah's absence from injury, while, with Liverpool, the Egyptian star failed to secure the league title, the Champions League, or the European or English top scorer titles. 

Salah's performance in the 2024-2025 season will be evaluated for awards based on his contributions in the 2023-2024 season and the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, which are set to take place in January 2024. 

What have others achieved? 

The young Adingra was one of the standout stars during the Africa Cup of Nations, playing a pivotal role in Ivory Coast's advancement to the quarter-finals against Mali and providing assists for the winning goals in the final against Nigeria, thus clinching the championship. Adingra also won the award for Best Young Player at the Africa Cup of Nations. 

Ademola Lookman is the leading candidate for the award after leading his Italian team Atalanta to the Europa League title with a hat trick in the final against Bayer Leverkusen of Germany. In the Africa Cup of Nations, Lookman scored three goals that led Nigeria to the final, and he was included in the "ideal lineup" of the tournament. 

Serhou Guirassy had an outstanding season with his German club Stuttgart, guiding them to a second-place finish in the Bundesliga, while he also finished second in the "European Golden Shoe" standings with 28 goals in the German e

Moroccan Achraf Hakimi had a successful season with Paris Saint-Germain, and he also secured a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics. 

South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams earned the award for Best Goalkeeper in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and led his country to a bronze medal after a heroic performance. 

For his part, Salah scored 18 goals in the English Premier League last season but was absent from both the local and European top scorers' lists, and he did not participate in the Champions League, achieving only one title with Liverpool, the English League Cup. 

It is noteworthy that the Best African Player award for 2024 will be presented at a grand ceremony at the conference palace in Marrakech during the evening of the award presentation.