Liverpool pair Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, with Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez were named as the three candidates for this year’s African Footballer of the Year award, to be decided in January 2020. Senegal’sMane will be the favourite for the award ahead of his Egyptian club mate afterLiverpool won the UEFA Champions League. However,he faces stiff opposition from Mahrez, who won the English Premier League withManchester City and also captained Algeria to the Africa Cup of Nations titlein mid-year. Thenominees were named after being selected by a panel of technical experts fromthe Confederation of African Football, CAF, plus former players and media. Thecoaches and captains of the 54 African national teams will now vote for thewinner, to be announced on January 7 at a ceremony in Egypt. Salahhas been African Footballer of the Year the last two years while Mahrez was thewinner in 2016. Sane was third in 2016 and runner-up to Salah the last twoyears.