2012 African Footballer of the Year award-Confederation of African Football

Confederation of African Football revealed this in an initial list of 34 players for its 2012 African Footballer of the Year award. Among them is Ivory Coast and Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, who won the honour last year. Also on the list are three players who currently represent African clubs. Zambian duo Rainford Kalaba and Stoppila Sunzu both play for DR Congo’s TP Mazembe, while Tunisia’s Youssef Msakni is at Esperance. Msakni, however, is set to leave the African Champions, having agreed to join Lekhwiya in Qatar in January 2013. Kalaba and Sunzu have already enjoyed a successful year, as they were part of Zambia’s team that lifted this year’s Africa Cup trophy in Gabon. And the duo, alongside Msakni, are the only players to appear on both shortlists for the African Footballer of the Year and the African Player of the Year. The African Footballer of the Year award is predominantly won by players based outside Africa while the African Player of the Year prize is dedicated to players plying their trade within Africa. A total of 34 players are on the shortlist for the African Footballer, while 32 hopefuls are gunning for the African Player of the Year award. CAF said in a statement that it will announce the top 10 nominees for the African Footballer of the Year and the top five nominees for African footballer of the Year (based in Africa) by late October. The names of the respective 10 and five finalists will then be sent to national associations, head coaches and secretary generals to select the top three finalists. The awards, which also include Coach of the Year and Club of the Year will be announced at a ceremony on 20 December in the Banquet Hall, State House in the Ghanaian capital Accra. Nominees for African Player of the Year: Abdelaziz Barrada – Getafe (Spain) and Morocco Adel Taarabt – Queens Park Rangers (England) and Morocco Alain Sibiri Traore – Lorient (France) and Burkina Faso Alexander Song – Barcelona (Spain) and Cameroon Andre ‘Dede’ Ayew – Marseille (France) and Ghana Arouna Kone – Wigan (England) and Ivory Coast Aymen Abdennour – Toulouse (France) and Tunisia Bakaye Traore – AC Milan (Italy) and Mali Cheick Tiote – Newcastle United (England) and Ivory Coast Christopher Katongo – Henan Construction (China) and Zambia Demba Ba – Newcastle United (England) and Senegal Didier Drogba – Shanghai Shenhua (China) and Ivory Coast Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu – Udinese (Italy) and Ghana Emmanuel Mayuka – Southampton (England) and Zambia Foxi Kethevoama – FC Astana (Kazakhstan) and Central African Republic Gervinho – Arsenal (England) and Ivory Coast Hilaire Momi – Le Mans (France) and Central African Republic John Obi Mikel – Chelsea (England) and Nigeria John Utaka – Montpellier (France) and Nigeria Kwadwo Asamoah – Juventus (Italy) and Ghana Moussa Sow – Fenerbahce (Turkey) and Senegal Nicolas N’koulou – Marseille (France) and Cameroon Papiss Demba Cisse – Newcastle United (England) and Senegal Pape Moussa Konate – FC Krasnodar (Russia) and Senegal Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – St Etienne (France) and Gabon Rainford Kalaba – TP Mazembe (DR Congo) and Zambia Seydou Doumbia – CSKA Moscow (Russia) and Ivory Coast Seydou Keita – Dalian Aerbin (China) and Mali Sofiane Feghouli – Valencia (Spain) and Algeria Stoppila Sunzu – TP Mazembe (DR Congo) and Zambia Victor Moses – Chelsea (England) and Nigeria Yaya Toure – Manchester City (England) and Ivory Coast Younes Belhanda – Montpellier (France) and Morocco Youssef Msakni – Esperance (Tunisia) and Tunisia -BBC Sports