CAF 2015 Awards: Africa's finest to be named in Abuja gala

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will on Thursday, January 7, 2016 name Africa’s best players of 2015 in an awards gala that will be held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, Nigeria.

At a glance, Ghanaian and Swansea City star Andre Ayew appears to be the favourite and will slug it out with Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Yaya Toure of Ivory Coast for the African Player of the Year award.

For the Africa-Based Player of the Year category, Algeria and Etoile du Sahel’s Baghdad Bounedjah, TP Mazembe’s duo of Tanzania’s Mbwana Samatta and DR Congo’s goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba will go hammer and tongs at the top prize.

The winners will be decided by votes of the Coaches or Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF.

Acting President of FIFA and CAF President, Alhaji Issa Hayatou will grace the event, leading a delegation of FIFA and CAF executives.

The event which is sponsored by telecommunication giant Globacom, and dubbed Glo-CAF Awards was inaugurated in 2005.

Other categories featured in this year’s event include Women’s National Team of The Year, Women’s Footballer of The Year, Most Promising Talent, Referee of The Year, Legend of The year, Fair Play Award, Platinum Award, which has only one nominee, and Africa Finest XI.

Nominees for other 2015 Caf Awards

Women’s Player of the Year:

• Gabrielle Onguéné – Cameroon
• Gaelle Enganamouit – Cameroon
• Ngozi Ebere – Nigeria
• N’rehy Tia Ines – Ivory Coast
• Portia Boakye – Ghana

Youth Player of the Year:

• Adama Traore – Mali
• Kelechi Nwakali – Nigeria
• Samuel Diarra – Mali
• Victor Osimhen – Nigeria
• Yaw Yeboah – Ghana

Most Promising Talent:

• Azubuike Okechukwu – Nigeria
• Etebo Oghenekaro – Nigeria
• Djigui Diarra – Mali
• Mahmoud ‘Kahraba’ Abdelmonem – Egypt
• Zinedine Ferhat – Algeria

Coach of the Year:

• Baye Ba – Mali Under-17
• Emmanuel Amunike – Nigeria Under-17
• Fawzi Benzarti – Etoile du Sahel
• Hervé Renard – Ivory Coast
• Patrice Carteron – TP Mazembe

Referee of the Year:

• Alioum Neant – Cameroon
• Bakary Papa Gassama – The Gambia
• Eric Arnaud Otogo Castane – Gabon
• Ghead Zaglol Grisha – Egypt
• Janny Sikazwe – Zambia

African Legend:

• CK Gyamfi – Ghana
• Samuel Mbappé Léppé – Cameroon

National Team of the Year:

• Ivory Coast
• Ghana
• Mali Under-17
• Nigeria Under-17
• Nigeria Under-23

Women’s National Team of the Year:

• Ghana
• Cameroon
• South Africa
• Zimbabwe

Club of the Year:

• USM Algers – Algeria
• TP Mazembe – DR Congo
• Orlando Pirates – South Africa
• Etoile du Sahel – Tunisia