For the sixth year running, Super Eagles players failed to make the list for the African Footballer of the Year Award as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) released the names of nominees for the 2010 edition in Cairo yesterday.

The last time a Nigerian player was short-listed was in 2004 when then captain, Austin Okocha who was voted the BBC African player for that year lost the crown to his perennial rival, Samuel Eto’o Fils of Cameroon.

The last time a Nigerian player won the award was in 1999 when leggy player, Nwankwo Kanu, then with Arsenal of England beat Samuel Osei Kuffour of Ghana and Ibrahim Bakayako of Cote d’Ivoire to the second and third positions respectively.

The 2010 nominees are led by Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o Fils with Asamoah Gyan, Salomon Kalou and Seidu Keita also gunning for the award to announced December 20, 2010 in Cairo, Egypt.
The only category with a Nigerian name is the Women’s Footballer of the Year with three Falcons players, Perpetua Nkwocha, Ebere Orji and Stella Mbachu being the only short-listed players.

According to CAF, the final nominees will vie for honours in the respective categories following their nomination by the Media, Technical and Football Committees of CAF taking into consideration the performance during the year under review, from January 2010 to November 2010.

For the topmost awards, Player of the Year 2010 and African-based Player of the Year 2010, the respective winners are decided by votes from the respective senior national teams’ Head Coaches or Technical Director of the 53 National Associations affiliated to CAF, the continent’s football ruling body stated.