CAF nominates Partey, Kudus for Player of The Year award

The Confederation of African Football has nominated Mohammed Kudus and Thomas Partey for the 2023 Africa Player of the Year award.

The nomination is in recognition of their excellent performances for their respective clubs and country in the year under review.

Mohammed Kudus enjoyed his best season yet as he scored 18 goals and provided seven assists as Ajax finished third in the Eredivisie and reached the KNVB Cup’s final.

The 23-year-old also excelled at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, scoring two goals in three games for the Black Stars.

Even though Partey did not score as many goals, he was just as influential, playing a key role as Arsenal qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in seven years.

The Gunners also finished the Premier League in second place for the first time since 2016.

The duo will face competition from Napoli’s Victor Osimhen who is firm favorite for the award.

The Nigerian finished as top scorer of the Serie A last season and helped the Neapolitans to their first league title in 33 years.

Senegal’s Sadio Mane, another nominee, is the reigning African Player of The Year.

Here is the full list of nominees:

1. Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund)
2. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli)
3. Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)
4. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli)
5. Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas)
6. Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest)
7. Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire and Al Nassr)
8. Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille)
9. Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids)
10. Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
11. Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
12. Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
13. Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
14. Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham United)
15. Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal)
16. Serhou Guirassy (Guinea and VfB Stuttgart)
17. Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur)
18. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
19. Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco and Olympique Marseille)
20. Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Galatasaray)
21. Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco and Manchester United)
22. Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
23. Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal)
24. Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco and Sevilla)
25. Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
26. Victor Osimhen (Nigeria and SSC Napoli)
27. Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr)
28. Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal and Tottenham Hotspur)
29. Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
30. Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Ferencvaros)