African footballer of the year nominees' list pruned to three

Lagos, Nigeria – The five-man shortlist for the 2010 African player of the year has been pruned down to three, which Chelsea and Ivorian striker Didier Drogba heading the list. According to a statement by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Saturday, reigning African player of the year Drogba is being joined by Samuel Eto'o Fils of Inter Milan and Cameroon and Asamoah Gyan of Sunderland and Ghana.

Drogba’s countryman and club teammate Salomon Kalou as well as Seydou Keita of Mali were dropped from the five-man
shortlist.

The 2010 African player of the year will be crowned at the final awards ceremony in Cairo, Egypt, on 20 December.

The winner will be decided by votes from national coaches of Africa’s 53 countries, affiliated to CAF.

Among the other major awards to be handed out in Egypt will be Young Player of the Year, with Kwadwo Asamoah from Ghana; Ryad Boudebouz of Algeria and Moussa Maazou of Niger all in contention.

Algeria, Egypt and Ghana are vying for National Team of the Year, while the Coach of the Year award will be contested by Lamine N’Diaye, who led TP Mazembe to the CAF Champions League title, Milovan Rajevac – the man who masterminded Ghana’s FIFA World Cup campaign – and Egypt’s Hassan Shehata.

Alain Dioko of TP Mazembe, Mohamed Gedo and Ahmed Hassan (both of Al-Ahly of Egypt) are nominated for best African-based Player, while CS Sfaxien of Tunisia, FUS Rabat of Morocco and TP Mazembe of DR Congo will be aiming to win best club side of 2010.

In other awards, Nigerians dominated the Women’s footballer of the year, with Stella Mbachu, Perpetua Nkwocha and Ebere Orji in contention.

Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, finalists in the 2010 African Women’s Championship, as well as the Nigeria’s Under-20 women’s team are the contenders for the Women’s National Team of the Year.