Zimbabwe and Al Hilal of Sudan striker Edward Sadomba has missed out on a dream medal for the 2011 African Player of the Year (based in Africa) after the top three nominees were revealed on Thursday.
Sadomba’s team reached the semi-finals of the Caf Champions League where they lost 2-0 on aggregate to eventual champions Esperance of Tunisia. He was initially named in the top 10 before the list was whittled down to three.
The shortlists for the 2011 African Player of the Year and 2011 African Player of the Year (Based in Africa) were decided by votes by the head coaches or technical directors of the national associations affiliated to CAF.
The CAF technical, football and media committees decided on the choice of shortlists for the other categories taking into account the performance of the nominees from January to November, 2011.
The winners will be unveiled at the Awards Gala scheduled for Thursday, December 22 at the Banquet Hall, State House in Accra.
The award ceremony is to reward excellence in African football on and off the pitch. The shortlisted nominees are (in alphabetical order):
African Player of the Year 2011 (a) Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille/Ghana) (b) Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi Makhachkala/Cameroon) (c) Seydou Keita (Barcelona/Mali) (d) Moussa Sow (Lille/Senegal) (e) Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Cote d’Ivoire) African Player of the Year 2011 (Based in Africa) (a) Oussama Darragi (Esperance Sportive de Tunis/Tunisia) (b) Zouhir Dhaouadi (Club Africain/Tunisia) (c) Banana Yaya (Esperance Sportive de Tunis/Cameroon) National Team of the Year (a) Botswana (b) Cote d’Ivoire (c) Niger (d) Tunisia Women’s National Team of the Year (a) Cameroon (b) Nigeria (c) South Africa Club of the Year (a) Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia) (b)Maghreb Association Sportive of Fez (Morocco) (c) Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)
