The African Football Confederation (CAF) has announced a preliminary list of players who will compete for the African Footballer of the Year Award 2017-2018.
The list includes 34 players, including 15 Arab players, and the list will be filtered in the next stages before the selection of the trio, which will be at the awards ceremony scheduled in the Senegalese capital Dakar on the eighth of January.
The list included Egyptian star Mohammed Salah along with his compatriots Walid Suleiman and Ahmed Juma.
From Algeria, the African Union chose Riad Mehrez as well as Abdelmoumin Gabou, Yassine Brahimi and Youssef Blaili.
The Tunisian trio included Anis Al-Badri, Taha Al-Khunaisi and Wahbi Al-Kharazi, while Morocco represented Ayoub Al-Kaabi, Hakim Ziash, Ismail Haddad, Mahmoud Bin Hilb and Mehdi Benatia.
The list also saw a number of African stars, including Mali Sadio Mani, Gabonese Pierre Obamiang, Guinean Nabi Kaita, Alaji and Alfred Zaha.