The problem with monopolies is that they do not bother to carry people along in their decision-making process. The Confederation of African Football, CAF, is free to revise its list of candidates from time to time. But it should let observers know its yardstick. Now, it has dropped Nigerian defender, William Troost-Ekong, from the list of players earlier selected to vie for its Player of the Year Award, without any explanation.
Although Troost-Ekong’s compatriots, Victor Moses and Junior Ajayi, are still in the running, the latest action sparks of impunity. This is because many Nigerian soccer watchers felt happy with the shortlisting of the defender, William Troost-Ekong. The resourceful youth had worked tirelessly on the pitch to keep the Super Eagles slate undefeated in the Group B play-offs as the team campaigned hungrily for Russia 2018.
The additional reason that made William’s selection cheery is that nations that are lucky to have a defender and an attacker nominated for the Awards tend to keep their hopes on till the very last stage of the selection process. To be sure, some of those who do the voting retain deep sentiments for defenders while others are likely to prefer attackers and mid-fielders to win the highly coveted trophy. So, seen in this light, the dropping of William from the shortlist is a minus for Nigeria.
Victor Moses, an attacker, is among the eleven nominees for the African Player of the Year Award, while Junior Ajayi is still among the ten players listed in the Player of the Year (Based in Africa) Category.
CAF explained belatedly that the lists were arrived at through votes from members of the CAF Technical and Development Committee, CAF Media Experts Panel and Independent Media and TV Consultants, from the initial 30-man list.
The continental soccer body said the second and final phase will involve Head Coaches or Technical Directors of the national associations taking part in the voting exercise and ten members from the Independent Media and TV Consultants group.
The statement revealed that for the first time, captains of the senior men’s national teams of the affiliated national associations will also take part in decision making process of the African Player of the Year and Player of the Year (Based in Africa). The nominees for the African Player of the Year are Bertrand Traore of Burkina Faso and Olympique Lyon; Denis Onyango (Uganda and Mamelodi Sundowns); Karim El Ahmadi (Morocco & Feyenoord); Keita Balde (Senegal and Monaco); Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool); Naby Keita (Guinea and RB Leipzig); Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon and B. Dortmund); Sadio Mane (Senegal and Liverpool); Victor Moses (Nigeria and Chelsea); Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon and Porto); and Yacine Brahimi (Algeria and Porto).
For the Player of the Year Based in Africa, apart from Nigeria’s Junior Ajayi, the other nominees are Achraf Bencharki of Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club, Ahmed Fathi of Egypt and Al Ahly, Ali Maaloul (Tunisia and Al Ahly), Aristide Bance (Burkina Faso and El Masry) and Ben Malango (DR Congo and TP Mazembe).
The African Footballer of the Year Awards Gala will hold on January 4, 2018, in Accra, Ghana.
