Confederation of African Football (CAF) has explained the shock decision to drop two categories in their awards for this year scheduled for Thursday in Accra, Ghana.

Two previous categories namely “African Player of the Year Based in Africa” and “Referee of The Year” awards were omitted with no reasons given leading to speculations.

However, at today’s pre-event presser in the Ghanaian capital, CAF boss Ahmad said;

“The best is always the best. We don’t have two bests.

“The players based in Africa are also capable of winning the award so there is no need to categorize them.”

Liverpool’s duo Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah and Burussia Dortmund’s goal machine Aubameyang are in the chase for the coveted gong.

On why the referee’s honor was scrapped, the Madagascan said;

“The best referees already have their awards by officiating at the biggest event in the continent and abroad. So they need no award again.

“Secondly, we don’t want to encourage corruption in the refereeing industry as we believe awarding them can breed corruption.”