{"id":279189,"date":"2016-12-23T13:24:46","date_gmt":"2016-12-23T13:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=279189"},"modified":"2016-12-23T13:24:46","modified_gmt":"2016-12-23T13:24:46","slug":"caf-player-of-the-year-aubameyang-mahrez-and-mane-make-shortlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=279189","title":{"rendered":"CAF Player of the Year: Aubameyang, Mahrez and Mane make shortlist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Borussia Dortmund and Gabon star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still in line to retain his African Player of the Year crown after making the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) final three-man shortlist.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old will go up against Leicester City’s Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez – the BBC’s 2016 African Footballer of the Year – and Liverpool and Senegal winger Sadio Mane.<\/p>\n

Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Islam Slimani of Algeria both missed out having made the final five.<\/p>\n

Caf confirmed that the winners will be unveiled at a ceremony on Thursday 5 January in Abuja, Nigeria.<\/i><\/p>\n

Aubameyang’s victory last year ended Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure’s run of winning the trophy in four successive years.<\/p>\n

Mahrez stands a great chance of dethroning him after a stunning 2016 in which he helped Leicester win the Premier League title and won the English Players’ Player of the Year award.<\/p>\n

Zambian midfielder Rainford Kalaba, Zimbabwean forward Khama Billiat and Ugandan goalkeeper Denis Onyango are the three contenders for the prize for Caf’s best African player based on the continent.<\/p>\n

List of players nominated for Caf’s 2016 African Player of the year award:<\/b><\/p>\n