Despite his stellar performance as the AFCON 2023 MVP, William Troost-Ekong was shockingly excluded from CAF’s top-five nominees, leaving fans outraged.
Nigeria’s William Troost-Ekong has been notably excluded from the Confederatio of African Football’s (CAF) top five nominees for the 2024 Player of the Year award, sparking widespread criticism.
Fans have labelled the omission as ‘laughable’, particularly given Troost-Ekong’s remarkable performance as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the 2023 AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire. The controversy erupted following CAF’s announcement of the nominees for its annual awards, set to take place on December 16 in Marrakech, Morocco.
Despite being part of an initial ten-player shortlist, Troost-Ekong’s exclusion has incited outrage, with many arguing that an MVP of a major tournament should automatically be among the top contenders.
A social media user expressed disbelief saying, “Simon Adingra makes the list but the player of the AFCON Troost-Ekong not making it is very laughable.” Another fan questioned, “You omitted Ekong but left Williams and Adingra? on what basis?”
The final shortlist is led by Ademola Lookman, who had an exceptional year with the Nigerian national team and Atlanta.
Lookman contributed significantly to Nigeria’s AFCON campaign, scoring three goals and assisting another during their run to the final. He also made history by scoring a hat-trick in the Europa-League final against Bayer Leverkusen.
Critics have raised concerns about CAF’s selection process, pointing out that troost-Ekong played a pivotal role in Nigeria’s AFCON success, while some selected palyers has less impactful performances. Fans have called forgreater transparency, with one noting the apparent inconsistency in favouring players like Simon Adingra over the AFCON MVP.
The controversy underscores ongoing debates about haw recognition is determined in African Football. As anticipation builds for the award ceremony, many supporters remain baffled by the exclusion of a player who was instrumental in Nigeria’s achievements.
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