Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah has been nominated for The Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award for 2021.
Salah, who plays his club football for Liverpool, will contest the award alongside last year’s winner Robert Lewandowski of Poland and Bayern Munich and 2021 Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi of Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain.
Salah has had an excellent year with Liverpool and is currently the top scorer in the English Premier League with 16 goals. He also netted some spectacular goals, most notably against defending champions Manchester City and Watford with fans and pundits hailing his performances.
Lewandowski won the European Golden Shoe and broke a decades-long Bundesliga goalscoring record netting 41 goals.
Messi, on the other hand, helped Argentina win the Copa America, the nation’s first major trophy in nearly three decades.
Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo was the winner of the first FIFA’s The Best award in its current format in 2016 and he went on to retain it in 2017.
Meanwhile, the three players on the final shortlist for The Best FIFA Women’s Player of the Year are Alexia Putellas and Jennifer Hermoso, both of Spain and Barcelona, and Sam Kerr of Australia and Chelsea.
The awards are voted for by international managers, captains of international teams, journalists and fans.
The award winners will be announced in a virtual ceremony on January 17.
(Story compiled with assistance from wire reports)
