Enyeama and Musa named Among 25 African players for the Prestigious African Footballer of the Year 2014 Award

AFRICA

Morocco to Decide Kick-off for 2015 African Nations Cup

Morocco will make a decision this weekend over whether to stage the 2015 African Nations Cup, juggling the threat of a possible spread of the Ebola virus with the likelihood of heavy sanctions against their football teams.

The host nation want to postpone the January 17-February 8 tournament because of the deadly virus but the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is refusing to entertain a change of dates and wants a final decision from the country by Saturday.

CAF said Morocco's concerns are alarmist, notably the fear the competition will attract tens of thousands of visitors from west Africa where almost 5 000 have died because of Ebola.

The confederation believes there will be just a few thousand travelling fans and points out that only one country where Ebola has proven deadly, Guinea, are in the running to qualify.

"We understand the precaution a sovereign state has to take but it's important not to stigmatise the virus and increase the fear of it, rather be factual about how it can be transmitted from one place to the other while taking all necessary measures," said CAF general secretary Hicham El Amrani this week.

Moroccan Youth and Sports Minister Mohamed Ouzzine, however, suggested the public may boycott the tournament and players based in Europe would not take part, rendering it a flop for all concerned.

AFRICA

Enyeama and Musa for African Player Top Gong

The Nigerian duo of Vincent Enyeama and Ahmed Musa have been named among 25 players to vie for the 2014 African Footballer of the Year.

Enyeama and Musa have been outstanding for their club and country this year.

Nigeria captain and goalkeeper Enyeama has been instrumental in LOSC Lille's performance this year. In the second round of last season in the French Ligue 1, the 32-year-old's seven clean sheets between the stick helped the club finish in third place.

In the colours of the African champions, the former Enyimba goalkeeper was in the centre of the action at the 2014 Fifa World Cup finals in Brazil, where he pulled off 21 saves in four matches, including a big save that helped Nigeria defeat Bosnia-Herzegovina and book their passage to the knockout stage.

Enyeama and Ahmed Musa

CSKA Moscow attacking winger Musa played a key role in his club's feat of winning the Russian top flight in May this year.

Out of the seven league goals scored by Musa last season, two of them were recorded this year against Anzhi Makhachkala and Ural.

The 22-year-old also scored twice at the World Cup for Nigeria, both goals against Argentina in a group match which the South Americans won 3-2 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

But the Nigerian pair will face tough challenge from an impressive field of shortlisted players for the award that include current African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure of Manchester City and Ivory Coast.

The 25-man shortlist also include Ghana duo of Asamoah Gyan and Kwadwo Asamoah, Emmanuel Adebayor of Togo, Senegalese pair of Sadio Mane and Dame N'doye as well as Cameroon trio Vincent Aboubakar, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Stephane Mbia.

Apart from Yaya Toure, the Ivory Coast also have Wilfred Bony and Yao Kouassi Gervais, also known as Gervinho, among the shortlist.

Africa's most impressive team at the World Cup, Algeria, have four players in the shortlist. Islam Slimani, Rais M’Bolhi, Sofiane Feghouli and Yacine Brahimi are the four Algerians nominated.

Tunisia have two players named among the 25 nominees. They are Fakhreddine Ben Youssef and Ferdjani Sassi.

Others shortlisted are Thulani Serero of South Africa, Yannick Bolasie of DR Congo, Seydou Keita of Mali, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon and Mohamed El Neny of Egypt.

Nigeria also have a player among the 20 shortlisted for the African Footballer of the Year (based in Africa) category.

Former Enugu Rangers winger Ejike Uzoenyi, who is now in the books of Mamelodi Sundowns, is shortlisted in the 20-man list.

Caf will announce a shortlist of 10 before the end of this year before trimming the nominees to the final three.

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure has been crowned African Footballer of the Year in the last three editions and will be seeking a fourth individual honour when the Glo-Caf Awards takes place in Lagos, Nigeria, on January 8, 2015