Zesco United and Zambia defender Fackson Kapumbu has beaten his junior compatriots to make the preliminary nominees list for both the 2017 CAF African Player of The Year and CAF African-Based player of the Year Awards.

CAF today announced the provisional 30-man list in each of the two categories that will be cut to half and later three ahead of the 2017 CAF Awards Gala to be held on January 4 in Accra, Ghana.

There are no nominations for the 2017 U20 AFCON winners Patson Daka or Fashion Sakala for the two accolades that are the sole preserve of players who have served with distinction in senior CAF sanctioned matches for that calendar year.

Also missing is perennial Zambian nominee and midfielder Rainford Kalaba of TP Mazembe who will defend their CAF Confederation Cup title against SuperSport United of South Africa in the final over two legs this month.

Meanwhile, the left-back has been a prominent figure in Zesco defence in their 2017 CAF Confederation Cup campaign in which they reached the quarterfinals following his move this season from defending champions Zanaco.

Kapumbu cemented his place in the Chipolopolo setup under Wedson Nyirenda last November, 2016 and have been a key feature in Zambia’s unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cups.

His most notable moment came in the 2018 CHAN qualifiers in which his assists were instrumental in Zambia’s qualification to the tournament.

He also scored one goal in the 2018 CHAN first round qualifiers in Zambia’s 4-0 away win over Swaziland on Chipolopolo ‘s way to advancing to the last qualifying round 7-0 on aggregate where they eliminated Bafana 4-2 on aggregate to qualify for the Morocco tournament.