CAF scrap African-based Player of the Year award

Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Dennis Onyango looks to be the last winner of the African-based Player of the Year award after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided to scrap it despite already announcing the nominees for 2017.

CAF have also decided to end the Referee of the Year award but gave no indication as to why the two prizes have been done away with when contacted by TimesLIVE.

“Those two categories were scrapped following a decision of CAF emergency committee‚” said CAF’s director of their media department‚ Junior Binyam.

Onyango claimed the prize last year after helping Sundowns to the African Champions League title and taking Uganda to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals for the first time in almost four decades.

Also nominated this year was SuperSport United forward Jeremy Brockie for his 10 goals in the African Confederation Cup as Matsatsantsa lost to TP Mazembe in the final.

New Zealand international Brockie and Onyango made the final 10 nominations and the former would likely have stood a good chance of being winner‚ and in doing so become the first non-African to claim the prize.

The three final nominees for African Player of the Year are Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)‚ Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Dortmund) and Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)‚ with Salah regarded the heavy favourite.

South Africa do still have interest in the awards‚ with Banyana Banyana star Chrestina Kgatlana nominated for African Women’s Player of the Year along with Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Dalian Quanjian) and Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene (Cameroon & CSKA Moscow).

Banyana Banyana have also been nominated for Women’s National Team of the Year along with the Under-20 sides of Ghana and Nigeria.

The award winners will be announced in Accra‚ Ghana on January 4.