Ikeme, Moses, Mikel, Ndidi, Others Nominated for Nigeria Pitch Awards

Ailing Super Eagles goalkeeper, Carl Ikeme was nominated along with fellow senior national teammates like Victor Moses, John Mikel Obi, William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun and Wilfred Ndidi for the 2017/2018 Nigeria Pitch Awards scheduled to hold in June in Lagos.

Also nominated for the prestigious Pitch Award is Super Falcons star forward, Asisat Oshoala.

At the unveiling of nominees for the fifth edition of the awards in Lagos yesterday, organisers, Match Makers Consult, and its auditors, SIAO Partners explained the transparent process that led to the selection of the players for honour.

Other players also nominated in various categories include; Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Shehu Abdullahi, Odion Ighalo, Anthony Okpotu (Lobi Stars), Stephen Odey and Rasheedat Ajibade (FC Robo).

In all, three nominees are listed in each of the 18 categories of the awards. Among the categories are King of The Pitch which has Mikel, Ndidi and Moses as contenders while Oshoala, Ajibade and Charity Reuben of Ibom Angels are in the running for the Queen of the Pitch award.

For the Goalkeeper of the Year award, the trio of Ikeme, Ezenwa and Dele Ajiboye will slug it out while Balogun, Troost-Ekong and Abdullahi do battle for the Defender of the Year.

Mikel, Ndidi and Moses are in the midfield category while for the Striker of the Year will be between Ighalo, Okpotu and Moses.

For the Most Valuable Player (Men) in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), Ezenwa, Okpotu and Odey will go head-to-head while Ajibade, Reuben and Amarachi Okonkwo of Nasarawa Amazons are in contention for the Nigeria Women Football League top prize.

Other categories include Coach of the Year, Club/Team of the Year, Referee of the Year, and State With The Grassroots Programme.

Also, there is the category for Football Friendly Governor of The Year, Sam Okwaraji Award for Commitment to Nigerian Football, Corporate Sponsor of the Year, Football Journalist of the Year (Print), Football Journalist of the Year (Radio) and Football Journalist of the Year (TV).

THE CATEGORIES

*GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR

1. Carl Ikeme (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
2. Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Ifeanyi Ubah FC)
3. Dele Ajiboye (Plateau United FC)

*DEFENDER OF THE YEAR

1. Leon Balogun (FSV Mainz 05)
2. William Troost-Ekong (Bursapor FC)
3. Shehu Abdullahi (Bursaspor FC)

*MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR

1. John Mikel Obi (Tianjin Teda)
2. Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City FC)
3. Victor Moses (Chelsea FC)

*STRIKER OF THE YEAR

1. Victor Moses (Chelsea FC)
2. Anthony Okpotu (Lobi Stars FC)
3. Odion Ighalo (Changchun Yatai)

*MVP (MEN) IN THE NPFL

1. Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Ifeanyi Ubah FC)
2. Stephen Odey (MFM FC/FC Zurich)
3. Anthony Okpotu (Lobi Stars FC)

*MVP (WOMEN) IN THE NWFL

1. Charity Reuben (Ibom Angels)
2. Rasheedat Ajibade (FC Robo)
3. Amarachi Okonkwo (Nasarawa Amazons)

*COACH OF THE YEAR

1. Fidelis Elechukwu (MFM FC)
2. Gernot Rohr (Super Eagles)
3. Kennedy Boboye (Plateau United)

*CLUB/TEAM OF THE YEAR

1. Super Eagles
2. Plateau United FC
3. MFM FC

*REFEREE OF THE YEAR

1. Ferdinand Udoh
2. Adebimpe Quadri
3. Ogabor Joseph

*STATE WITH THE BEST GRASSROOTS DEVT PROGRAMME

1. Lagos State
2. Rivers State
3. Delta State

*FOOTBALL FRIENDLY GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR

1. Godwin Obaseki (Edo State)
2. Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom State)
3. Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos State)

*SAM OKWARAJI AWARD

1. Shehu Dikko (2nd Vice President, NFF)
2. Amaju Melvin Pinnick (President, NFF)
3. Chief Ifeanyi Ubah (Chairman, Ifeanyi Ubah FC)

*CORPORATE SPONSOR OF FOOTBALL AWARD

1. Aiteo Group
2. Nigerian Breweries plc
3. Coca Cola plc

*FOOTBALL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR (PRINT)

1. Johnny Edwards (Complete Sports)
2. Tana Aiyejina (Punch Newspapers)
3. Olalekan Okusan (The Nation Newspapers)

*FOOTBALL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR (RADIO)

1. Godwin Enakhena (Top Radio FM)
2. Olawale Adigun (Top Radio FM)
3. Tony Bekederemo (Brila FM)

*FOOTBALL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR (TV)

1. Austin Okon-Akpan (Channels TV)
2. Godwin Enakhena (LTV/SportsSplash)
3. Mozez Praiz (Supersport)

*QUEEN OF THE PITCH

1. Rasheedat Ajibade (FC Robo)
2. Rueben Charity (Ibom Angels)
3. Asisat Oshoala (Dalian Quanjian)

*KING OF THE PITCH

1. Victor Moses (Chelsea FC)
2. Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City FC)
3. John Mikel Obi (Tiajin Teda)

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