Egypt’s history with CAF Player of the Year Award

CAIRO – 4 January 2018: The African Player of the Year Award winner will be announced on Thursday at 9 p.m. at the CAF annual ceremony held in Accra, Ghana. Liverpool Egyptian winger, Mohamed Salah is nominated for the award alongside Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Salah is the seventh Egyptian player to be nominated for the award.

Six Egyptian players have been shortlisted for the award in the past, but Egypt won only once in 1983 thanks to Mahmoud el-Khatib.

History of the award

The award was conferred by France Football magazine from 1970 until 1994 but it stopped in 1995, when the African Football Federation, which had started in 1992, granted the CAF African Player of the Year.

Ali Abo Greisha
Ismaily’s former striker, Ali Abo Greisha was the first Egyptian to be nominated for the award in its first year in 1970 after he led his team to win the CAF Champions League title.

Abo Greisha lost the award to Mali’s Salif Keita who got 54 votes while Ali got only 28.

Hassan Shehata
Four years later, Zamalek winger, Hassan Shehata was nominated for the award. Egyptians were very optimistic to win the award this time but Shehata received only 28 votes and lost the award to Congo’s Paul Moukila who received 57 votes.

Mahmoud el-Khatib
After two unsuccessful attempts, Egypt finally won the award in 1983 when Al-Ahly’s former striker, Mahmoud el-Khatib received 98 votes and was the first Egyptian to win the award.

Ibrahim Youssef
Zamalek former defender, Ibrahim Youssef is the only Egyptian player to be nominated twice but he never won the award.

In 1984, he lost to Cameroon’s Théophile Abega and a year later he lost to Morocco’s Mohamed Timoumi.

Mido

Egypt waited 17 years to see an Egyptian player on the shortlist. Ahmed Hossam, known as Mido, who was playing at Ajax at the time, was nominated for the award alongside two Senegalese players, El-Hadji Diouf and Papa Bouba Diop.
Mido got 42 votes losing the award to El-Hadji Diouf.

Mohamed Abo Trika

An Egyptian player was last nominated for the award in 2008, when Al-Ahly’s former attacking midfielder, Mohamed Abo Trika was nominated alongside Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayor and Ghana’s Michael Essien.

Abo Trika came second after he received 53 votes, while Adebayor had 74 votes.

Egypt had seven attempts with six players but they only won the award once. Egyptian fans hope that Salah could end 35 years of waiting and that he will be the second Egyptian to win the award.