2023 CAF Awards: Gift Orban nominated for Young Player of the Year
The Nigerian forward who plays for Gent in the Belgian top division scored a total of 20 goals in the period under review which caught the attention of the panel of CAF Technical Experts who compile the lists of nominees for the Awards.
By Olusola Adebayo
Nigeria's newest scoring sensation, Gift Orban has been nominated by the Confederation of African Football, CAF, for the African Young Best Player of the Year.
In the list of nominees released by by CAF on Wednesday, Gift Orban was among ten players deemed good enough for the recognition at the CAF 2023 Awards due for December 11, 2023, in Marrakech Morrocco.
The Nigerian forward who plays for Gent in the Belgian top division scored a total of 20 goals in the period under review which caught the attention of the panel of CAF Technical Experts who compile the lists of nominees for the Awards.
A panel of CAF Technical Experts, African Football Legends and selected media representatives from several countries put together the preliminary list for the various categories with the performance of the nominees between November 2022 and September 2023 serving as the period under consideration.
The Super Eagles invitee will face stiff opposition from nine other young players who have distinguished themselves in the year under review.
The list includes four Senegalese, who are
Lamine Camara of Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz), Pape Amadou Diallo who plays for Generation Foot/Metz), Pape Demba Diop who plays for Zulte Waregem and Amara Diouf of Generation Foot).
Other nominees for the award are Dango Ouattara of Burkina Faso and Bournemouth, Souleymane Alio of Burkina Faso and New Stars, Ghanian Ernest Nuamah who plays for Olympique Lyonnais, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli of Morocco and Real Betis and Bilal El Khannous of Morocco and Genk.
The ultimate winner of each category will be decided after votes from a voting panel consisting of the AF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches &and captains of Member Associations and clubs involved in the group stages of the Interclub competitions.
The list of nominees for the Men's Young Player of the Year is below in Alphabetical order.
1. Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso and Bournemouth)
2. Souleymane Alio (Burkina Faso and New Stars)
3. Ernest Nuamah (Ghana & Olympique Lyonnais)
4. Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Morocco and Betis)
5. Bilal El Khannous (Morocco and Genk)
6. Gift Orban (Nigeria and KAA Gent)
7. Lamine Camara (Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz)
8. Pape Amadou Diallo (Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz)
9. Pape Demba Diop (Senegal and Zulte Waregem)
10. Amara Diouf (Senegal and Generation Foot)
