Senegal’s Mane happy to win 2019 African Best Player Award

Senegal and Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has said winning the 2019 African Player of the Year means a lot to him as a footballer. “I have always worked hard to try and win this Award and now I have achieved it for my Senegal and my teammates at Liverpool,” said Mane last night at the Albatros Citadel Sahl Hasheesh Resort in Hurghada, Egypt.

Mane and Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala were crowned as African Player of the Year and African Women’s Player of the Year at the colourful Awards ceremony.

The 28th edition of the CAF Awards celebrated African footballers and officials who distinguished themselves during 2019. President of the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA), Wallace Karia and his executive members Francis Amin Michael (South Sudan), and Esayas Jira (Ethiopia) together with board members Abraham Esayas (Eritrea) and Gen. Sekamana Jean Damascène (Rwanda) also attended. CECAFA Secretary General Nicholas Musonye also attended the ceremony.

Mane collected 477 votes ahead of his Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah, 325 votes and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, 267 votes.

“I’m very happy and proud to win this award. I thank my teammates at the Senegal national team and also my club, Liverpool for their support,” added Mane.

Nigeria’s Oshoala was named African Women’s Player of the Year for the fourth time. She garnered 351 votes, 30 more than Cameroonian forward Ajara Nchout and Thembi Kgatlana, who had 247 votes.

For the Interclub Player of the Year, Esperance Youcef Belaili won the prize, while the Youth Player of the Year award went to Moroccan Achraf Hakimi. Djamel Belmadi and Desiree Ellis picked the Coach of the Year male and female respectively.

Award Winners

African Player of the Year

Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)

African Women’s Player of the Year

Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Barcelona)

African Interclubs Player of the Year

Youcef Belaïli (Algeria & Esperance / Ahli Jeddah)

African Youth Player of the Year

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmund)

African Men’s Coach of the Year

Djamel Belmadi (Algeria – Algeria)

African Women’s Coach of the Year

Desiree Ellis (South Africa)

African Men’s National Team of the Year

Algeria

African Women’s National Team of the Year

Cameroon

Federation of the Year

Egyptian Football Association

Special Award

Kojovi Obilale (former Togolese goalkeeper)