Following their exploits at both club and national team levels, Tabitha and her younger sister Temwa made the initial 30-player shortlist but did not make the cut for the final top-ten shortlist.
Tabitha, who is on loan at Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) women’s side, stole the limelight after winning the Italian Serie A Feminine Golden Boot with 23 goals during her loan stint at Inter Milan last season.
She became the first African player to achieve that feat.
Tabitha tells BolaNews that she is not bitter about being left out of the top ten after believing that her time will come.
In a short response, she said, “I am not disappointed. In everything, we need to thank God. We will do better. Only God knows.”
Temwa Chawinga also had a fantastic 2023
Temwa inspired her Chinese women’s top-flight league side, Wuhan Jiangda, to win her fourth consecutive league title.
She is also on the verge of winning the league’s Golden Boot Award this season.
Temwa is leading the scorers’ chart with an 11-goal margin with one game remaining.
She has scored 27 goals, while her fellow African, Barbara Banda, from Zambia, who plays for Shanghai, has 16 goals. However, Barbara has made it into the top 10.
Temwa also won the Chinese National Cup Golden Boot.
She also inspired the Scorchers to win the 2023 Cosafa Women’s Championship title in Johannesburg, South Africa where she was named Player of the Tournament and won the Golden Boot with nine goals.
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The Malawi Women’s Team coach, Lovemore Fazili, who was also nominated for Coach of the Year (women), has also not made the final shortlist.