Simon is nominated alongside Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal striker Sadio Mane, the reigning African Footballer of the Year.

The Nigerian duo of Moses Simon and Akinwunmi Amoo made it into the shortlist of nominations for the 2022 CAF Awards.

The Confederation of African Football(CAF) on Thursday released the first list of nominees for the CAF Awards; featuring a 60-man shortlist for individual awards.

While Moses made it into the main award for the African Footballer of Year, Amoo , who plays for FC Copenhagen, is in the Youth Player Category.

Moses who had a blistering outing in the last Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon is nominated along with the likes of Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal striker Sadio Mane who is the reigning African Footballer of the Year.

Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly both from Senegal are also on the star-studded nomination list.

The last time a Nigerian won the African Player of Year award was in 1999 when Kanu Nwankwo was voted as the continent’s best.

Since then a couple of players like Austin Okocha, John Obi Mikel, Sunday Oliseh and even Vincent Enyeama have all come close at different times but have failed to win Africa’s highest individual award.

In the Youth Category where Amoo is nominated, he will hope to see off stiff opposition from the likes of Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz) and Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United) for the award

Meanwhile, the Super Eagles were glaring absentees in the 10 nominees for the national team of the year category. But Comoros, The Gambia and Equatorial Guinea made the cut.

According to the press statement by CAF, a stakeholder panel made up of Technical Experts, CAF Legends and Journalists decided on the list for the various categories taking into consideration the performance of the nominee from September 2021 to June 2022 at all levels.

The winners of each category will be decided by a voting panel made up of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches and Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved in the group stage of the Interclub competitions.

The 2022 CAF Awards will be held on 21 July 2022 in Rabat, Morocco.

Full List of Nominees (in alphabetic order by Member Association:

Player of the Year (Men)

  • Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
  • Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Aston Villa)
  • Blati Toure (Burkina Faso & Pyramids)
  • Edmund Tapsoba (Burkina Faso & Bayer Leverkusen)
  • Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon & Napoli)
  • Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Lyon)
  • Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)
  • Youssouf M’Changama (Comoros & Guingamp)
  • Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire & AC Milan)
  • Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire & Ajax)
  • Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt & Al Ahly)
  • Mohamed ElNeny (Egypt & Arsenal)
  • Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
  • Mohamed Shenawy (Egypt & Al Ahly)
  • Musa Barrow (Gambia & Bologna)
  • Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)
  • Aliou Dieng (Mali & Al Ahly)
  • Hamari Traore (Mali & Rennes)
  • Yves Bissouma (Mali & Tottenham Hotspur)
  • Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris Saint-Germain)
  • Sofiane Boufal (Morocco & Angers)
  • Yahya Jabrane (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club)
  • Yassine Bounou (Morocco & Sevilla)
  • Moses Simon (Nigeria & Nantes)
  • Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea)
  • Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)
  • Nampalys Mendy (Senegal & Leicester City)
  • Sadio Mane (Senegal & Bayern Munich)
  • Saliou Ciss (Senegal & Nancy)
  • Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly)
Interclub Player of the Year (Men)

  • Riad Benayad (ES Setif)
  • Tiago Azulao (Petro Atletico)
  • Karim Konate (ASEC Mimomas)
  • Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly)
  • Aliou Dieng (Al Ahly)
  • Mohamed Shenawy (Al Ahly)
  • Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly)
  • Percy Tau (Al Ahly)
  • Morlaye Sylla (Horoya)
  • Achraf Dari (Wydad Athletic Club)
  • Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Athletic Club)
  • Zouhair El Moutaraji (Wydad Athletic Club)
  • Mouhcine Moutouali (Raja Club Athletic)
  • Issoufou Dayo (RS Berkane)
  • Youssou El Fahli (RS Berkane)
  • Victorien Adebayor (Niger & Union Sportive Gendarmerie Nationale)
  • Peter Shalulile (Mamelodi Sundowns)
  • Bandile Shandu (Orlando Pirates)
  • Thembinkosi Lorch (Orlando Pirates)
  • Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Esperance Sportive de Tunis)

Young Player of the Year (Men)

  • Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso & Lorient)
  • Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg)
  • Jesus Owono (Equatorial Guinea & Alaves)
  • James Gomez (The Gambia & AC Horsens)
  • Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes)
  • Ilaix Moriba Kourouma (Guinea & Valencia)
  • El Bilal Toure (Mali & Reims)
  • Akinkunmi Amoo (Nigeria & FC Copenhagen)
  • Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz)
  • Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United)
Coach of the Year (Men)

  • Kamou Malo (Burkina Faso)
  • Amir Abdou (Comoros)
  • Carlos Quieroz (Egypt)
  • Pitso Mosimane (Al Ahly)
  • Tom Saintfiet (The Gambia)
  • Florent Ibenge (RS Berkane)
  • Vahid Halilhodzic (Morocco)
  • Walid Regragui (Wydad Athletic Club)
  • Aliou Cisse (Senegal)
  • Mandla Ncikazi (Orlando Pirates)
National Team of the Year (Men)
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cameroon
  • Comoros
  • Egypt
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • The Gambia
  • Mali
  • Morocco
  • Senegal
  • Tunisia
Club of the Year (Men)
  • ES Setif (Algeria)
  • Petro Atletico (Angola)
  • TP Mazembe (DR Congo)
  • Al Ahly (Egypt)
  • Ahli Tripoli (Libya)
  • Al Ittihad (Libya)
  • Raja Club Athletic (Morocco)
  • RS Berkane (Morocco)
  • Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)
  • Orlando Pirates (South Africa)