Yaya Toure
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has failed to make the five-man shortlist for the African Player of the Year award.
Algeria and Leicester duo Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani, Liverpool and Senegal forward Sadio Mane and Roma and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah are the players in contention, along with current holder Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, of Gabon and Borussia Dortmund
The award winner will be announced on Jan. 5, the African Football Confederation (CAF) has said.
Toure, a four-time winner of the prize, made his first Premier League appearance of the season on Saturday and scored twice in the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.
The long period of inactivity has seen Toure — who was angry at not winning the last African award — miss out on selection by the voting panel.
Toure was sidelined during a dispute between his agent, Dimitri Seluk, and City manager Pep Guardiola, who demanded an apology for a series of scathing comments made by the Ivorian’s representative.
An apology from Toure earlier this month saw the 33-year-old phased back into the first-team squad.
In January, Toure railed against the verdict when Aubameyang ended his four-year reign as Africa’s top player, saying it brought “shame on Africa” and it was “indecent” that his achievement as the African Nations Cup-winning captain had not been sufficiently recognised.
He has since retired from international football.
CAF said its latest shortlist had been determined by votes from members of the media, its technical and development committee and 10 members of a 20-strong expert panel.