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By: Ebenezer Bajela.
Congolese defender Chancel Mbemba was crowned the winner of the Prix Marc-Vivien Foé, ahead of Nigeria international Terem Moffi, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The prize is awarded to the best African player in Ligue 1 by a jury assembled by RFI and France 24.
The 28-year-old Mbemba headed a list featuring the 2022 winner Seko Fofana from Ivory Coast and Moffi on Tuesday.
Mbemba, whose stellar performances have helped Marseille’s surge to third spot and a berth in the qualifying rounds for next season’s Champions League, becomes the first defender to claim the award since it was created in 2009.
The Marseille defender was awarded 207 points by a panel of around 100 judges, 11 points more than second-place Fofana.
Both players are well ahead of Moffi, who scored 125 points.
The 24-year-old had an impressive season with 17 Ligue 1 goals and three assists for Lorient and OGC Nice and was a strong contender for the award. If he had won, Moffi would have become the third Nigerian to claim the prestigious title after retired goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and ex-Lille striker Victor Osimhen.
The Prix Marc-Vivien Foé was established in 2009 by RFI to commemorate the Cameroonian footballer Foe, who died in June 2003 at the age of 28 from a heart attack, while playing for the Indomitable Lions during a Confederations Cup match against Colombia in Lyon.
