Nigerian international Victor Moses was brushed past by Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the Aiteo CAF player of the year award.
The NFF expressed its disappointment towards CAF and encouraged the player not to be dismayed by the snub. From the polls released, it was found out that it was not at all CAF’s fault as the Nigerian top gun only received a handful of votes, unlike other contenders for the award.
Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr and former Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi voted for teammate Victor Moses as their 2017 Aiteo CAF Player of the Year. Other coaches who voted for Moses for the African Player of the year award were Bilal Felix Komoyangi of South Sudan, Ricardo Mannetti of Namibia and Mlungisi Dlamini of Swaziland. Moses also got 10 votes from the Independent Media and TV Consultants category. While Jacqueline Shipanga, a Namibian national women soccer coach, also voted for him. In total Victor Moses only pulled a total of 215 votes to finish fourth behind winner Mohamed Salah.
The Aiteo CAF player of the year award recipient Mohamed Salah, on the other hand, pulled a whopping 625 points against the first runner-up Senegal’s Sadio Mane who pulled 507 points, while second runner-up Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, received 311 points.
Receiving his award, Salah said; “For me, this is a dream come true. I genuinely cherish this award, and I dedicate it to all the young people of Egypt and the whole of Africa. My message to them is that they should never stop dreaming, and they should never stop believing in themselves.”
