[Mhiz Rebecca]

Nigeria and super eagles captain John Obi Mikel has been
excluded from the final list of five African players that will vie for
the 2016 African player of the year award.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) made available the list
of the 5 finalist on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at the
body’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
The lack of playing time of Mikel Obi this season at Chelsea has
been regarded by many pundits as the rationale for CAF to have
left him out of the 5 finalist.
CAF explained that the list of the top 5 was selected by votes from
the members of the body’s media committee, CAF technical
committee, and also half of the 20 member panel of experts.
African football governing body also made it clear that votes of the
head coaches and technical directors of the 54 national
associations will determine the winner among the 5 final shortlist.
The 2016 Glo-CAF award dinner will be held in Abuja, Nigeria on
Thursday, January 5 2017.
Below are the 5 shortlisted players
1. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ( Gabon, Borrusia Dortmund)
2. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria, Leicester City)
3. Islam Slimani ( Algeria, Leicester City)
4. Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Roma)
5. Sadio Mane ( Senegal, Liverpool)