Nigeria To Host CAF Awards For First Time Since 2017

Nigeria is set to host the CAF Awards for the first time since 2017.

NewsRain Nigeria reports that Nigeria is set to host the 2026 Confederation of African Football Awards and the 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly, bringing some of Africa’s biggest football personalities and administrators to the country.

A statement from the NFF on Tuesday said that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu approved the hosting of both events following a meeting with CAF President Patrice Motsepe on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.

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“The President announced this at the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, following a meeting with CAF President, Dr. Patrice Motsepe,” the NFF said in a statement issued by Director of Communications Ademola Olajire.

Additionally, CAF Director of Communications Lux September stated that the meeting included more expansive conversations between the two sides

“They discussed several topics, including government cooperation, football, and the private sector in Nigeria and Africa,” September said.

The 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly is scheduled for October, while the date of the CAF Awards ceremony has yet to be announced.

Recall that this will be the first time the CAF Awards will return to Nigeria since January 2017, when Abuja hosted the 2016 edition of the ceremony at the International Conference Centre.

That event was the fifth time Nigeria had hosted the awards since 2005.

Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won the Men’s Player of the Year award, and Cameroon’s Gaëlle Enganamouit won the Women’s Player of the Year.

It will also be the first time since 2022 that the ceremony will not be held in Morocco.

The North African nation hosted four consecutive editions from 2022 through 2025, staging the event in Rabat and Marrakech.

The CAF General Assembly, which brings together presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives from the six zonal unions, and senior football officials from across the continent, last convened in Nigeria in February 2009, when Lagos hosted the congress at which elections to the CAF and FIFA Executive Committees were held.

The NFF described the CAF Awards as “an annual showpiece event that celebrates the best performers in African football in an atmosphere of glitz, glamour and sheer panache.”

Nigeria has a distinguished history of awards. The country has produced multiple winners of the Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year across the editions it has hosted, and Nigerian footballers have claimed the Women’s prize in the majority of editions since the award was introduced.

The announcement comes as Nigerian football prepares for a significant year on the continental stage, with the country also awarded hosting rights for the inaugural African Nations League in 2029.