CAF Awards: Pinnick questions Victor Moses’ exclusion

Nigeria Football Federation boss, Amaju Pinnick, has questioned the integrity of the CAF Awards after his country man Victor Moses, missed out on the final 3-man shortlist for the awards for 2017.

Mohammed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool) Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool), Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon, Borrussia Dortmund), are up for the prestigious Best Player of Year award in Accra on January 4 after being named in the final shortlist at a short ceremony in Accra on Monday.

Pinnick, speaking exclusively to Citi Sports’ Fentuo Tahiru on the sidelines of the ceremony, expressed dissatisfaction at the exclusion of Moses in the list, and asked that CAF reviews their criteria for choosing players for the awards.

“I’m not happy because I feel that Moses should be part of the last three. The only reason why Mahrez won the award last year was because of what he did with Leicester. And Moses helped Chelsea to win the league; played in the FA Cup final; and helped Nigeria qualify for the World Cup.

“So I wonder why. I’m surprised. Maybe we should look at other criteria either than coaches who already have their mindset about who they want to vote for. Tell me what Pierre Emerick Aubameyang did last year to deserve a place ahead of Moses. Aubameyang should not be on that list. He’s struggling with Dortmund.”

“I am going to send a proposal to CAF for a new idea of selecting the players because certainly I’m not happy,” he told Citi Sports.

Mohammed Salah is odds on favorite to win the award for Africa’s Best Player, after a fantastic year in which he helped qualify Egypt for the World Cup, led them to the AFCON final which they lost to Cameroon, and has already scored 20 goals for Liverpool since joining them in August 2017.