Senzo Meyiwa nominated for African Player of the Year award

Senzo Meyiwa, the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper who was shot dead last month, is nominated for African Player of the Year award.

South Africa goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, who was murdered last month, has been nominated for the African Player of the Year award. The CAF, Africa's football governing body, bestow separate awards, one for those playing on the continent, and another for footballers based around the world. The deceased Orlando Pirates player is included in a 20-man shortlist for best African playing on the continent. The 27 year-old was shot dead in his girlfriend's home by an intruder on October 26th, just two weeks after making his seventh and final international appearance for South Africa. The goalkeeper's murder shocked the country. Jacob Zuma, the country's president, expressed his sorrow at the incident, saying: 'We mourn the death of this young footballer and team leader whose life has been taken away at the prime of his career'. Meyiwa made 109 appearances over nine years for the Johannesburg club, who will play an exhibition match in the goalkeeper's honour next week against a team of former Manchester United players. The side will include Lee Sharpe, Louis Saha and Viv Anderson, while Paul Scholes is also set to be involved. 'For the supporters and the players alike, this will be a really exciting match, giving fans the opportunity to see Manchester’s legends return to the pitch to take on the Orlando Pirates Legends' Scholes said. 'We’ll all be honouring the memory of Senzo Meyiwa and are proud to have the chance to help to raise funds to support his family'. The nominees for overseas Player of the Year include Premier League players such as Swansea City's Wilfried Bony, Emmanuel Adebayor of Tottenham Hotspur and Yaya Toure. The Manchester City midfielder has won the award the last three years running and could become first player to win four-straight African Footballer of the Year awards when the ceremony is held in January. African Player of the Year 1.    Ahmed Musa - Nigeria, CSKA Moscow 2.    Asamoah Gyan - Ghana, Al Ain 3.    Dame N’doye - Senegal, Lokomotiv Moscow 4.    Emmanuel Adebayor - Togo, Tottenham 5.    Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting - Cameroon, Schalke 04 6.    Fakhreddine Ben Youssef - Tunisia, CS Sfaxien 7.    Ferdjani Sassi - Tunisia, CS Sfaxien 8.    Gervinho - Cote d’Ivoire, AS Roma 9.    Islam Slimani - Algeria, Sporting Lisbon 10. Kwadwo Asamoah - Ghana, Juventus 11. Mehdi Benatia - Morocco, Bayern Munich 12. Mohamed El Neny - Egypt, Basel 13. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Gabon, Borussia Dortmund 14. Raïs M'Bolhi - Algeria, Philadelphia Union 15. Sadio Mané - Senegal, Southampton 16. Seydou Kieta - Mali, As Roma 17. Sofiane Feghouli - Algeria, Valencia 18. Stephane Mbia - Cameroon,  Sevilla 19. Thulani Serero - South Africa, Ajax 20. Vincent Aboubakar - Cameroon, Porto 21. Vincent Enyeama - Nigeria, Lille 22. Wilfried Bony - Cote d’Ivoire, Swansea 23. Yacine Brahimi - Algeria, Porto 24. Yannick Bolasie - DR Congo, Crystal Palace 25. Yaya Toure - Cote d’Ivoire, Man City African Player of the Year (Based in Africa) 1.    Amr Gamal - Egypt, Al Ahly 2.    Abdelrahman Fetori - Libya, Ahly Benghazi 3.    Bernard Parker - South Africa, Kaizer Chiefs 4.    Bongani Ndulula - South Africa, Amazulu 5.    Akram Djahnit - Algeria, ES Setif 6.    Ejike Uzoenyi - Nigeria, Enugu Rangers 7.    El Hedi Belamieri - Algeria, ES Setif 8.    Fakhereddine Ben Youssef - Tunisia, CS Sfaxien 9.    Ferdjani Sassi - Tunisia, CS Sfaxien 10. Firmin Mubel Ndombe - DR Congo, AS Vita 11. Geoffrey Massa - Uganda, Pretoria University 12. Jean Kasusula- DR Congo, TP Mazembe 13. Kader Bidimbou - Congo, AC Leopards 14. Lema Mabidi - DR Congo, As Vita 15. Mudathir Al Taieb - Sudan, Al Hilal 16. Roger Assalé - Cote d’Ivoire, Sewe Sport 17. Senzo Meyiwa - South Africa, Orlando Pirates 18. Solomon Asante - Ghana, TP Mazembe 19. Souleymane Moussa - Cameroon, Coton Sport 20. Yunus Sentamu - Uganda, AS Vita