Mikel battles Yaya, Drogba for African Footballer of the Year

Super Eagles midfielder, John Obi Mikel, will have Cote d’ Ivoire’s duo of Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba to battle in his quest to win the 2013 CAF Player of the Year Award for the first time.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday announced the final three shortlists for the Award with Mikel being one of them.

While Drogba has won the Award three times, Toure has won it twice, while this is the first time Mikel has made it to the top three.

Drogba plies his trade with Turkish Club, Galatasaray while, Toure, the defending champion plays for Manchester City. Mikel Obi is a regular feature for Chelsea FC of London.

The King will be crowned at the Awards Night holding at the Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos on 9th January, 2014.

However, Mikel is not the only Nigerian in the running for an individual honour as 2013 Africa Cup of Nations hero, Sunday Mba, is also in the race for the African Footballer of the Year for players based in Africa.

Mba faces two big hurdles in Egyptian duo of Ahmed Fathy and Mohamed Abou Trika.

Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfielder, Yaya Toure is the reigning African Footballer of the Year and Abou Trika current holds the African Footballer of the Year for players based in Africa.

The list is prepared through a vigorous selection process by the Technical, Football and Media Committees of CAF, taking into account the performance of the players for their national teams and clubs from January to November of each year. The ultimate winner of the award will be decided by votes from the Head Coaches or the Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF.

The release of the top three players competing for the prized crown of African footballer of the year Award is the climax of a week-long expectation across the continent on who would be the next King of African Football.

In other categories, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria will vie for the Team of the year award, while clubs that will vie for the Club of the year award are Al Ahly, CS Sfaxien and Orlando Pirates.

Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, Golden Eaglets coach, Manu Garba and Paul Putt have been shortlisted for the Coach of the Year Award.