Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, others shortlisted for CAF African Footballer of the Year

A preliminary list of 34 African players, who are nominees for the 2012 CAF African Footballer of the Year, has been released and it features three Nigerians – Victor Moses(Chelsea) , John Mikel Obi (Chelsea) and John Utaka (Montpellier).

Mikel Obi, featured prominently, as Chelsea won the Champions League and the FA Cup, while John Utaka, was part of the Montpellier team that beat PSG to the Ligue 1 title. Moses was a key player, as Wigan Athletic avoided relegation last season, before moving Stamford Bridge.

According to CAF’s website: “The GLO-CAF Awards Gala 2012 will be held in Accra, Ghana at the Banquet Hall, State House on December 20th.

“This year has seen three players make it on both lists. Zambia duo of Rainford Kalaba and Stoppila Sunzu from club side TP Mazembe join Tunisian, Youssef Msakni from club side Esperance on the African Footballer of the Year list which is largely dominated by African players playing club football outside the continent.

“The selection was based on performances for club and country. CAF will announce the top ten nominees for the African Footballer of the Year and the top five African footballer of the Year (based in Africa) by late October after the voting by CAF relevant Standing Committees, namely the Media, Technical and Football committees.

“The names of the respective ten and five finalists will be sent to National Association head coaches and secretary generals to select the top three.