Sadio Mane was crowned as African player of the year at the CAF Awards 2019 held at the Albatros Citadel Sahl Hasheesh Resort here on Tuesday.
Asisat Oshoala was named as the African women's player of the year. The 28th edition of the CAF Awards celebrated African footballers and officials who distinguished themselves during 2019.
Mane was crowned the African player of the year, polling 477 votes ahead of his Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah, 325 votes, and Algeria's Riyad Mahrez, 267 votes.
Mane collected the prize from CAF President Ahmad Ahmad and said in a statement: "I'm very happy and proud to win this award. I thank my teammates at the Senegal national team and also my club, Liverpool for their support".
In the women's category, Oshoala was named African women's player of the year for the fourth time, equalling the record of her compatriot Perpetua Nkwocha. She garnered 351 votes, 30 more than Cameroonian forward Ajara Nchout and Thembi Kgatlana, who had 247 votes.
For the Interclub of the year, Youcef Belaili won the prize following his stellar performance for his club X in the CAF Champions League with Esperance.
The youth player of the year award went to Moroccan Achraf Hakimi whilst Djamel Belmadi and Desiree Ellis picked the coach of the year male and female respectively.
Cameroon legend Samuel Eto'o partnered Egyptian Mariam Amin as presenters of the ceremony and was assisted by Moroccan Fayrouz Al Karawani as special guests Egyptian Minister of Sports Ashraf Sobhy, FIFA and CAF Legends were treated to a wonderful evening.
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