Why didn't Mo Salah WIN CAF Player of the Year tonight?

The CAF awards were Monday night and Mo Salah didn't win best player. How's that even possible?

The 2024 CAF awards take place in Marrakech on Monday evening. They're handing out the biggest awards in African football once again - but there's plenty of controversy around them.

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The biggest shock is the winner of Men's Footballer of the Year. It won't be Mo Salah, who isn't even nominated for the award. Nor is Victor Boniface, who helped Bayer Leverkusen to the Bundesliga title last season, nor Omar Marmoush, the standout star in Germany this season.

Simon Adringa, Serhou Guirassy, Achraf Hakimi, Ademola Lookman and Rownen Williams are the names who are in the running. Lookman is the one expected to win.

His hat trick in the UEFA Europa League final helped deliver Atalanta's first European trophy. It was unquestionably the moment of the season for an African player and really the finest performance.

Still, how is Salah not winning this one comfortably?

Mo Salah not in running for CAF award

The only way it makes sense for Salah not to win this is if it's really for the 2023/24 season. Then we could somewhat understand.

After all, Egypt didn't have a good Africa Cup of Nations and Salah 'only' scored 25 goals. But even then, he should be nominated and among the favourites.

And if it counts any football from this season? Well, Salah should be winning. He's arguably the best player in the world right now, let alone in Africa.

For comparison, Lookman scored 17 times across all competitions last season. It's December 16th and Salah already has 16.

But then, Salah has always been shorted in this award. He's 'only' won it twice (2017 and 2018), finishing second behind Sadio Mane twice since then and third last year.

For someone who will almost certainly go down as the greatest African footballer ever, that's not the haul he should have. Still, the way he's going, the 2025 edition will be a mere formality.

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