Democratic Republic of Congo defender Chancel Mbemba has been voted as the winner of the Marc Vivien Foe Award with Black Stars midfielder Salis Samed missing out on the prestigious award.
The award, named after former Cameroon international Foe, is presented to the best African player competing in the French Ligue 1.
A jury made up of experts on African and French football votes for the winner and Mbemba received the most votes to pick up the award after an outstanding season with Olympique Marseille.
Marseille will end the 2022-2023 season in third place and compete in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers next season.
Mbemba was named to the Ligue 1 Team of the season while Samed missed out on a place in the elite team that had four of Samed’s teammates make the cut.
Samed was one of the standout performers for RC Lens remarkable run to the Champions League after finishing second in the league behind Paris Saint-Germain.
The 23 year old impressed with Ghana’s Black Stars at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and has been included in the squad to play against Madagascar on June 18 in a 2023 AFCON qualifier
𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 🌍
🇨🇩🏆 "Demi-Dieu" @mbemba22 is the Marc-Vivien Foé Award winner! pic.twitter.com/Q94KR3IF7X
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) May 30, 2023