Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson is asking an important question from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after excluding him and others from the Men's Player of Year Award nominees list.
CAF released a 10-man shortlist yesterday led by top favourite Super Eagles and Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman alongside William Troost-Ekong and Achraf Hakimi.
The list has been generating debate on social media as some top stars were excluded, including Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Real Madrid attacker Brahim Diaz, who switched his international allegiance from Spain to Morocco this year and whom many touted would finish in the top three, was also not considered.
Jackson reacts to CAF POTY snub
Chelsea forward Jackson is one of the names circulating on social media in the list of notable omissions, and he has bought his own hype and asked the governing body a question.
As spotted by ESPN Africa, the striker shared a post on his Instagram story, which mentioned the names of those omitted and captioned with an asking caption.
“What happened @caf_online,” he wrote.
Nicolas Jackson's response to a post highlighting that he, along with Mohamed Salah, Victor Boniface, Brahim Díaz, and Mohammed Kudus, didn't make the final nominees list for the Men's African Player of the Year award 👀 pic.twitter.com/yNZ0RfGPSQ
— ESPN Africa (@ESPNAfrica) October 25, 2024
Fans quickly shut down the Senegalese striker’s excitement with claims that because the Africa Cup of Nations was played this year, the award tilted towards top performers at the tournament.
As noted by Transfermarkt, the former Villarreal striker, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, scored 17 goals and provided six assists in 44 games.
He played only 96 minutes at AFCON 2023, coming off the bench in all four games. His first goal for the Teranga Lions came against Malawi two weeks ago.
