By Charles Mgbolu
The race to grab the prestigious awards in different categories at the CAF Awards is in its final hours, as the awards take place on Monday evening at the Congress Palace in Marrakech, Morocco.
The men’s category is a tight contest with Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), and Victor Osimhen (Nigeria) in the final top three nominees for the Player of the Year.
The men’s coaches category also has the trio of Walid Al-Raghraghi (Morocco), Aliou Cisse (Senegal), and Abdelhak Ben Sheikha (Algeria) in the spotlight.
Like the men’s, the women's categories boast of interesting line-ups with the winners not easy to predict.
Let’s take a look at the contenders for the CAF Player of the Year (women) and African Coach of the Year (women) awards.
Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria)
Oshuola has been a trailblazer, breaking barriers and setting new standards.
Playing for FC Barcelona Femení, Oshoala has been an integral part of the team's success, contributing goals and leadership on the pitch.
Although hampered by injury, she has scored six goals this season and helped her team maintain dominance in the women’s La Liga tournament.
Oshuola was a dominant force in Nigeria’s Super Falcons squad in the FIFA women’s world cup, helping the team defeat formidable teams such as Australia and New Zealand.
Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa)
Kgatlana has had a fantastic run in 2023, helping South Africa for the first time reach the last 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The 27-year-old plays for Racing Louisville Football Club in Kenturky, and like Oshuala, she led the Banyana Banyana to defeat dominant teams at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, especially in her game against Italy, where she proved her dominance in attacking positing.
Barbara Banda (Zambia)
Banda is the Zambia Women’s National Team's all-time top goalscorer, with 15 goals and setting up three goals in 15 games.
She also got rave reviews after scoring the 1,000th goal in Women’s World Cup history with her penalty kick in the 31st minute against Costa Rica in the 2023 edition of the tournament.
Coach of the Year (Women)
The star-studded CAF Awards ceremony will also celebrate Coach of the Year in the women’s category with the following top three nominees:
Reynald Pedros (Morocco)
Reynald Pedros was the key to the Atlas Lionesses historic qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Round of 16 in their maiden appearance at the global showpiece.
It was in the same competition that Pedros plotted the elimination of Germany, which shocked global football pundits.
Desiree Ellis (South Africa)
Elis is the current winner of the award last year and is primed to clinch it once again.
She guided Banyana Banyana to their second FIFA Women’s World Cup following their CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations first-place finish.
Ellis also went a step further by working to book a spot for the South Africans in a historic round of 16 place.
Jerry Tshabalala (South Africa, Mamelodi Sundowns)
Tshabalala is a man of many crowns. He led Mamelodi Sundowns to the final of the 2023 CAF Champions League for the third time in a row and clinched the title without a single defeat or draw - winning all matches en route to the title.
The Sundowns coach managed to win a treble this season, with the CAF Women’s Champions League being preceded by a COSAFA Women’s Champions League title and, quite recently, the domestic South African football league title.
Voting process
The ultimate winner of each category will be decided following votes from a panel consisting of the CAF Technical Committee, media professionals from member associations, head coaches and captains of member associations, and clubs involved in the group stages of interclub competitions.
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