Mohamed Salah, the best Africa footballer in the world and arguably the best ever, has been snubbed for another major award in his native continent.
Salah has maintained his remarkable consistency for Liverpool so far this season, with seven goals and seven assists in 12 games under Arne Slot.
It comes after another impressive tally in Jurgen Klopp‘s final campaign in charge, with the Egyptian scoring 25 and assisting 14 in 44 appearances in all competitions.
Over the calendar year of 2024, no African player in the world’s top 10 leagues has recorded more goal contributions in all competitions than Salah (29).
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— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) October 24, 2024
That makes his omission from the shortlist for the CAF’s Africa Player of the Year award all the more baffling.
Liverpool’s No. 11 was not included on a 10-man list of nominees announced on Thursday.
The nominees are:
- Amine Gouiri (Rennes/Algeria)
- Edmond Tapsoba (Bayer Leverkusen/Burkina Faso)
- Simon Adingra (Brighton/Ivory Coast)
- Chancel Mbemba (Marseille/DR Congo)
- Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund/Guinea)
- Achraf Hakimi (PSG/Morocco)
- Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain/Morocco)
- Ademola Lookman (Atalanta/Nigeria)
- William Troost-Ekong (Al-Kholood/Nigeria)
- Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns/South Africa)
Though the names included do deserve the recognition, to omit a player of Salah’s elite-level form is remarkable.
There is a sense that his absence is down to factors outside of his performance, particularly after an Africa Cup of Nations tournament blighted by injury.
Salah’s reputation in Egypt took a blow when he opted to receive treatment for his hamstring injury back at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre, rather than with his national team.
• READ: Subbing Salah was another test passed in a seamless start for Arne Slot
Egyptian outlet Masrawy claim that sources from Salah’s camp deny any contact with the Africa FA for at least two years, despite this being the first time he has been overlooked for their Player of the Year nominees since 2016.
In a recent post on Twitter, the winger’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, appeared to hit back at comparisons between his client and players from the past.
He wrote, sarcastically: “When I say that a footballer that played decades ago was better than one playing today despite it obviously not being the case, I just feel so sophisticated and well read.”
