Three Ghanaians in contention for CAF awards

Two Ghanaian players, Samuel Osei Kuffour and Derek Boateng, and coach Emmanuel Kwesi Afrani have been short listed for the Second CAF Awards ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, April 16, in South Africa.

The award ceremony, launched by Mr Edward Osei-Kwaku, Minister of Youth and Sports in Accra on Friday is dubbed "the MTN CAF Awards" - named after a Cellular Network Provider, the main sponsors of the prestigious event.

The 14-categories award has Bayern Munich Samuel Osei-Kuffour in the topmost group as the Footballer of the year, Derek Boateng, Young player of the Year and coach Afrani who guided the national under-20 team to win silver in the World Youth Championship in the Coach of the Year category.

Also billed to be awarded is the silver medallists Satellites team. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) introduced the awards to raise the level of pride and honour amongst the African football fraternity.

It also recognizes the efforts of people who have helped to uplift the image of football both on and off the field. Nigeria, being honoured for her disciplinary achievements in the CAN 2000 co-hosted by Ghana would be presented with FIFA Fair Play award for attracting only five yellow cards.

The winner of the African Footballer of the year, which also includes other nominees-Samuel Eto Fils of Cameroon and Al Hadji Diouf of Senegal- would be chosen after voting by the CAF Technical and Media Committee.

For the remaining categories, voting would be done by a special CAF Committee of eight people drawn from both CAF and other established independent African football media representatives. The award venue would be rotated after this year's event.