Tabitha nominated for 5th time as CAF Women Player of the Year; Alongside her sister Temwa and record winner Nigerian Asisat Oshoala

* Malawi Scorchers nominated among 10 countries for the National Team of the Year after winning the 2023 COSAFA Championship

* The Scorchers COSAFA mentor, Lovemore Fazili has been nominated for the Coach of the Year

* Temwa Chawinga was voted Player of the Tournament and Golden Boot awards at the COSAFA

By Duncan Mlanjira

Sensational Malawi women football international, Tabitha Chawinga has been nominated for the 5th time as CAF Women Player of the Year — alongside her 2023 COSAFA Championship gold medalists sister, Temwa and record winner of the prestigious award, Nigerian Asisat Oshoala.

A statement from Confederation of African Football (CAF) also has the Malawi Scorchers as nominated among 10 countries for the National Team of the Year after winning the 2023 COSAFA Championship by beating Zambia 2-1.

The Zambia side has also been nominated for the award alongside South Africa; Tanzania; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Ghana; Morocco; Nigeria and Senegal.

Temwa Chawinga, who plays for Wuhan Jiangda in China alongside her sister Tabitha, was a revelation as stand-in captain at the 2023 COSAFA Championship where she was voted Player of the Tournament and Golden Boot awards as well as two Player of the Match accolades.

The two sisters and Nigerian Oshoala are up against 27 others — from Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco (5), Namibia, Nigeria (6), Senegal, (6), Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia (3).

The Scorchers COSAFA mentor, Lovemore Fazili has been nominated for the Coach of the Year, alongside Nana Joe Adarkwa (Ampem Darkoa), Mehdi El Qaichouri (SC Casablanca), Mohamed Amine Alioua (AS FAR), Reynald Pedros (Morocco), Randy Waldrum (Nigeria), Mame Moussa Cisse (Senegal), Desiree Ellis (South Africa), Jerry Tshabalala (Mamelodi Sundowns) and Esther Chabruma (JKT Queens).

Club of the Year include Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa alongside Athletico d’Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), Huracanes (Equatorial Guinea), Ampem Darkoa (Ghana), AS Mande (Mali), AS FAR (Morocco), SC Casablanca (Morocco) and JKT Queens (Tanzania).

A distinguished panel made up of CAF technical experts, legends and selected media representatives decided on the nominees, taking into consideration their performances at all levels from December 2022 to November 2023.

In all the matches played at the COSAFA, the Scorchers earned Player of the Match titles with the other from Asimenye Simwaka, Madyina Ngulube and Sabina Thom — who scored the grand final winner deep in referee’s optional time.

The Scorchers won the 12-team tournament after winning all their five matches, culminating in a 2-1 triumph over Zambia in the final.

They set the ball rolling by beating hosts and record seven-time champions South Africa’s Banyana Banyana 3-4, before thumping e-Swatini 8-0 and wrapping up their Group A assignments with a 3-1 win over Madagascar and edging Mozambique 2-1 in the semi-finals.

Tabitha Chawinga, who is on loan at Paris St. Germain in France from Wuhan Jiangda, was on song on Sunday when she claimed a sensational hat trick in their league match.

The Awards Gala is to be graced by the crème de la crème of African football on December 11, 2023 in Marrakech, Morocco and other awards are Goalkeeper of the Year, Interclub Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year (not more than 21 years).

Despite being arguably the most consistent striker from Africa over the past eight years, winning the top scorer award in every country she has played her club football, the continent’s top individual award – the CAF Women’s Player of the Year – has so far eluded Tabitha.

And she told The Guardian last month after guiding PSG to the group stages of UEFA Women’s Champions League by beating Manchester United, that she hopes the drought will end this year, saying: “I don’t know why I haven’t won. Maybe it is because I am from Malawi and the fact that our national team has not played in major competitions but I think I deserve it.”

On the four occasions she was nominated, she was beaten to it by Nigerian star Asisat Oshoala in 2022, 2019 and 2017 and by Thembi Kgatlana in 2018 and in June she told CAFonline that she refuses to lose sweat as she remains hopeful her time will come.

She said this following her great performance when she won the Golden Boot award after scoring 23 goals in 21 games for Inter Milan — becoming the first African woman to win the prestigious title in Italy.

She told CAFonline that “every player should desire to get that award. My eyes remain fixed on the prize [but] all in good time — my hands remain expectant whilst I continue to play good football.

“I was born with a gift. My duty has been to nurture the gift and nurturing a gift requires a willingness to continue learning and improving. So I am focused, I work hard, I am a team player, and always willing to learn and be exposed to new developments and skills in football.”

Chawinga was also on a season-long loan from Chinese champions Wuhan and her feat in Italy also made her become the only African woman to win the league Golden Boot in three countries abroad after finishing as the top scorer once in Sweden and thrice in China.

She told CAFOnline.com: “I feel honoured but I am more humbled by the reaction from the African continent and my fellow countrymen and women in Malawi [over my achievement].

“I am simply honored to have been bestowed a gift to play football and to share this gift with the world. It’s a humbling experience for a young girl like me coming from one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi.

“I thank Africa and my country Malawi for the unwavering support and for celebrating me on this feat. And I will most definitely continue carrying the African and Malawi flag in my future exploits. This means I can aim beyond the sky. So I look forward to more challenges in the game of football,” she told CAFonline in June.