Ghana and Asante Kotoko legend Karim Abdul Razak ‘Golden Boy’ has been invited for the aiteo CAF Awards 2017 as one of the legends on the continent to grace the occasion, GHANAsoccernet.com can reveal.
The former Asante Kotoko coach and Black Stars skipper is one of the few legends of the game invited for the august occasion.
He played for several clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, notably the local club Asante Kotoko and the New York Cosmos in the defunct North American Soccer League (NASL).
Popularly called the "Golden Boy", Razak also played for the Black Stars of Ghana, helping them to win the 1978 African Cup of Nations.
He was named the 1978 African Footballer of the Year after an amazing tournament where he catapulted Ghana to lift the trophy.
Razak, also played for clubs in the UAE, Egypt and Ivory Coast, and was ranked by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2007 as one of the confederation's 30 best footballers of the previous 50 years.
All previous winners of the African Player of the Year since its inception by CAF in 1992 are expected to grace the Aiteo CAF Awards Gala 2017, scheduled for Thursday, 4 January 2018, at the International Conference Centre in Accra, Ghana.
From Abedi Pele, winner of the maiden edition in 1992 through to Riyad Mahrez, crowned in 2016, the winners who represent various generations will be given prominence at the ceremony designed to celebrate the key stakeholders of African football.
Others are Nigerian trio, Emmanuel Amuneke, Nwankwo Kanu and Victor Ikpeba, Cameroonian and four-time winner, Samuel Eto’o Fils and compatriot Patrick Mboma, Ivorian Yaya Toure, a four-time winner and countryman Didier Drogba and El Hadji Diouf of Senegal.
The rest are George Weah of Liberia, Mustapha Hadji of Morocco, Malian Frederic Kanoute, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon and Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Mohamed Salah, Gabon’s Aubameyang and Sadio Mane of Senegal are the contenders for the prestigious African Player of the Year whilst the trio of Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria), Chrestina Kgatlana (South Africa) and Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene (Cameroon) battle it out for the Women’s Player of the Year.
By: Sheikh Tophic Sienu @desheikh1 on twitter