Partey and Atsu have been influential at both club and country and despite being nominated for the 30-man shortlist, they have failed to finish in the final phase ahead of the announcement of the most lucrative football award on the African continent.
The Ghanaian duo earned no place in the last phase of nominations for the 2017 African Footballer of the Year.
The shortlist was released after votes from members of the Caf Technical and Development Committee, Caf Media Experts and Independent Media and TV Consultants.
Among the shortlisted players are Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Senegal’s Sadio Mane, Guinea’s Naby Keita and Nigeria’s Victor Moses. The others are Burkina Faso’s Bertrand Traore, Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Morocco’s Karim El Ahmadi and Algeria’s Yacine Brahimi.
ADVERTISEMENT
The rest are Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar and Uganda’s Denis Onyango, who is the only goalkeeper nominee and also the only one who plies his trade on the continent. He has also been named in a 10-man shortlist for the same award for players based in Africa.
In the list are Morocco’s Achraf Bencharki and Mohamed Ounnajem, both of Wydad Athletic Club, Egypt’s Ahmed Fathi (Al Ahly), Tunisia’s Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly) and Taha Khenissi (Esperance), Burkina Faso’s Aristide Bance (El Masri) and DR Congo’s Ben Malango (TP Mazembe).
The rest are Nigeria’s Junior Ajayi (Al Ahly) and, surprisingly, New Zealand’s Jeremy Brockie (SuperSport).
