The Nigeria international has been shortlisted for his first Player of the Year award, while the Liverpool striker is moving ever closer to winning the award for the third time.
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen, Moroccan Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah will be left out of the Algerian squad when they compete for the 2023 CAF African Player of the Year award tonight, Soccernet ng reports. .
The president of the Algerian Football Association, Walid Saadi, has declared that Algerians will boycott the CAF awards ceremony scheduled to be held in Morocco in support of the Manchester City striker who was left out of the final three list.
Mahrez won the UEFA Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble with Josep Guardiola’s side, but he was not one of the best three players in Africa.
The former Leicester City winger was an influential player for Manchester City, scoring 17 goals and providing 19 assists in all competitions for the champions. In contrast, Salah remained in the final draft despite Liverpool failing to win a trophy in the 2022/23 season.
Moroccan defender Hakimi was a key member of the Atlas Lions team that won the French Ligue 1 with PSG and reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals .
Osimhen, likely to be chosen as the continent’s best player, won the Scudetto with Napoli and became the first Nigerian to finish in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or.
Nevertheless, Saadi believes that Mahrez should be among the top three candidates and made his position clear in a press conference:
“I will not attend the CAF award ceremony. I have informed CAF of my decision, but by the grace of God, Algerians will attend this event in solidarity with Riyad Mahrez and the Algiers Sports Federation. I will not participate.”
Osimhen arrived in Morocco ahead of the CAF awards ceremony and is aiming to become the first Nigerian in 24 years to win the African Player of the Year award.
