•Victor Boniface
Nigerian striker, Victor Boniface has expressed disappointment at being excluded from the shortlist for the Confederation of African Football Men’s Player of the Year award.
The CAF shortlist, announced in October, included Nigerian stars Ademola Lookman and William Troost-Ekong.
However, Boniface and Victor Osimhen were absent from the final 10 nominees.
The list also features Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Sofiane Rahimi, Algeria’s Amine Gouiri, Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra, DR Congo’s Chancel Mbemba, Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy, Burkina Faso’s Edmond Tapsoba, and South Africa’s Ronwen Williams.
“Not sad, but disappointed because I had an amazing season last season, so for me not to be there… maybe the award is for African players in AFCON, I don’t know. But in general, if it’s for African Player of the Year, I think I had a great season,” Boniface said in a video posted yesterday by sports journalist, Pooja, via X, when reacting to the CAF nomination.
He added that while awards are not his priority, he remains focused on improving his performance.
“I don’t need to prove to anybody; I don’t really care about awards and stuff. But of course, as a football player, I want to improve, I want to do more for myself,” he said.
When asked who he believes should win, Boniface named Ademola Lookman, saying, “Lookman, for sure Lookman.”
