Former captain of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, has been appointed on an 11-man panel, that will select the 23-man shortlist for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2017 award.
This was confirmed by FIFA on their official website on Wednesday.
Other football legends included are: Colombian icon Carlos Valderrama, Brazil 1994 and 2002 FIFA World Cup winner CAFU, Carles Puyol who won the 2010 World Cup with Spain, Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata, Alex Frei of Switzerland, Enzo Francescoli of Uruguay, Landon Donovan of the United States of America and New Zeland’s Ivan Vicelich.
The 23-man shortlist will be decided by the legends on Thursday.
Nominees in other categories that will also be decided on Thursday are Best FIFA Women’s Coach, Best FIFA Men’s Coach and Best FIFA Women’s Player.
The ceremony where all winners will be crowned holds in London on Monday, 23 October 2017.