CAF AWARDS
Why Ademola Lookman is the right man for the CAF top Award – NFF
BY ADEMOLA OLAJIRE
All things being equal, Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman should be crowned the African Player of the Year at Monday evening’s 2024 CAF Awards at the Palais des Congrés in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
His three goals and two assists were pivotal to Nigeria reaching their eighth Africa Cup of Nations Final in Cote d’Ivoire in February, and his hat-trick in a 3-0 win handed Italian side, Atalanta FC the UEFA Europa Cup at the expense of hitherto-rampaging German side, Bayer Leverkusen in May.
This season, he has notched 11 goals and five assists in 18 appearances in all competitions for Atalanta (including a goal against record winners Real Madrid FC in the UEFA Champions League), and scored two goals as Nigeria qualified for the 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals, with two other goals controversially chalked off.
None of the four other final nominees comes close. Ivorian Simon Adingra, whose remarkable second-half performance saw the Elephants overcome Nigeria in the AFCON Final in Abidjan on 11 February, cannot point to such a glittering record with English Premier League club, Brighton.
Incidentally, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire appear to always run neck-and-neck in continental titles.
Both countries have three AFCON titles each, and have scooped the Men’s Player of the Year title six times since the awards were taken over by CAF in 1992.
Cameroon lead with 11 titles (including Samuel Eto’O’s quadruple) dating back to 1970 when France Football first organized the awards, while Ghana have five (including Abedi Pele’s treble).
Victory for Nigeria on Monday evening will see the country become stand-alone number two, with previous winners being Rashidi Yekini (1993), Emmanuel Amuneke (1994), Nwankwo Kanu (1996 and 1999), Victor Ikpeba (1997) and Victor Osimhen (2023). It will also mean Lookman taking over from fellow Nigeria striker Osimhen. Cote d’Ivoire’s six have been won by Yaya Toure (quadruple) and Didier Drogba (double).
Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy, who notched a number of magnificent goals in the 2025 AFCON qualifying campaign, failed to steer Guinea to the AFCON finals, and has not pulled up too many trees with Borussia Dortmund in Germany this season.
South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams has better chances in the goalkeeper of the year category, which he contests with Cameroon’s Andre Onana and Ivorian Yahia Fofana. Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi can hardly stake a claim.
In the women’s category, Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie is a worthy contender for the Player of the Year (won for the sixth time last year by compatriot Asisat Oshoala), and the gong will cap a remarkable year for the soft-spoken safe hands who helped Nigeria re-appear at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament after 16 years, was key to the Falcons’ qualification for next year’s AFCON and drew rave reviews all around with French club, Paris FC. She is in competition with Moroccan Sanâa Mssoudy and Zambian Barbra Banda.
Nnadozie is also in contention to retain her Goalkeeper of the Year award, with Andile Dlamini (South Africa) and Khadija Er-Rmichi as contenders.
There is also Nigerian interest in Women’s Young Player of the Year category, with former junior international Chiamaka Okwuchukwu contending with Egyptian Habiba Sabry and Morocco’s Doha El Madani. Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala won the first-ever title in this category, back in 2021.
Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and South Africa (in the same order they finished on the podium at the AFCON) are in the race for the Men’s National Team of the Year, and Morocco, South Africa and Nigeria (who are the gong-holders and have finished the year as Africa’s number one on the FIFA ranking) battle for the women’s gong. Nigeria’s Edo Queens are in the shortlist for Women’s Club of the Year, alongside TP Mazembe of DR Congo and South AS FAR of Morocco.
Will we see Lookman standing together with Nnadozie as winners of the Player of the Year awards in both categories (as we saw Nwankwo Kanu and Mercy Akide-Udoh in 1999, and Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala in 2023)?
Award Categories (Nigeria interest)
Men’s Player of the Year (Ademola Lookman)
Women’s Player of the Year (Chiamaka Nnadozie)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Women’s Coach of the Year
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year (Chiamaka Nnadozie)
Men’s Interclub Player of the Year
Women’s Interclub Player of the Year
Men’s Young Player of the Year
Women’s Young Player of the Year (Chiamaka Okwuchukwu)
Men’s National Team of the Year (Super Eagles)
Women’s National Team of the Year (Super Falcons)
Men’s Club of the Year
Women’s Club of the Year (Edo Queens)
Goal of the Year
CAF AWARDS
Keita, Caster Semenya, Zidan, Modise, Wanyama amongst the big names lined-up for CAF Awards on Monday night
A collection of Africa’s greatest players past and present will grace the 2024 CAF Awards which are to be staged in a glittering ceremony in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday, a celebration of the continent’s football heritage and its bright future.
The event, which will honour the best-performing players, coaches and teams this year, will be held at the Palais des Congrès from 19h00 local time (18h00 GMT/ 20h00 Cairo time/ 21h00 East African time).
The annual gala shines a spotlight on African football excellence over the previous 12 months, but the presence of Legends allows for reflection on our game that goes back much further.
Ex-Mali midfielder Seydou Keita played over 100 times for his country and was a star of the all-conquering FC Barcelona side between 2008 and 2012, collecting every piece of silverware on offer, including the UEFA Champions League twice.
Mohamed Zidan won back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations titles with Egypt in 2008 and 2010, and successive German Bundesliga trophies with Borussia Dortmund in 2011 and 2012, showcasing the flair of Egyptian football.
Victor Wanyama has been a stalwart of Kenyan football since bursting onto the scene more than 15 years ago, helping them to qualification for the 2019 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations.
Double Olympic 800-metres champion Caster Semenya, who brings her star quality from outside the world of football, will make her appearance at the event. Former Cameroon goalkeeper Joseph Antoine Bell went to three FIFA World Cups with the Indomitable Lions in a 17-year international career after which he is regarded as one of the continent’s great glovemen.
Women’s football will be well represented too, with former South Africa striker Portia Modise, who scored 101 goals for her country, in attendance, along with ex-Ghana star Alberta Sackey and former Equatorial Guinea forward Genoveva Añonman.
Fabrice Akwa captained Angola to qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a historic moment for football in the country, scoring the winning goal against Rwanda that took his side to the global showpiece event in Germany.
The 2024 CAF Awards are a chance to celebrate African unity and excellence, and Legends form a crucial part of that rich tapestry as those who have helped the game grow on the continent in the preceding decades.
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The 2024 CAF Awards will be a celebration of the best of African football with a star-studded line-up of players, coaches and special guests in attendance at the glittering ceremony at the Palais des Congrès in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday.
Africa’s top achievers over the past year will be honoured and leading the show are two world class presenters to guide us through the evening, which will kick off at 19h00 local time (18h00 GMT/ 20h00 Cairo time/ 21h00 East African time).
Kate Scott is a well-known sports broadcaster who worked for CNN and SkySports before joining CBS Sports. She speaks four languages, English, French, Spanish and German, and has hosted numerous events worldwide.
She is also well known for her role hosting the FIFA Ballon d’Or and Laureus World Sports Awards, both of which she presented numerous times.
Recently she has been leading CBS Sport’s UEFA Champions League coverage alongside Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards, a show that has received critical acclaim.
“I’m extremely excited to host this year’s CAF Awards,” Scott said. “It will be a privilege to be on stage and in the room alongside some of the most influential names in football. I’m excited to see the continent’s best honoured.
“African football gives the global game soul. The talent born there is immense. The love for the sport is universal across the continent. And the culturally diverse way in which it is lived from nation to nation makes football there one of the heartbeats of the global game.”
Jalal Bouzrara is a seasoned Moroccan radio and television journalist with over 33 years of experience, having held roles as producer of various sports programs, including ‘L’Match’ and ‘L’Club’. He co-hosted the 2022 CAF Awards in Rabat.
Bouzrara began working in TV production in 2007 and developed a series of popular programs and concepts. He often collaborates as a presenter with FIFA, CAF and FRMF during events organised in Morocco.
“This is the second time I have had the honour and privilege of hosting this magnificent CAF Awards ceremony,” Bouzrara said. “I’m very excited and truly proud to be able to be part of celebrating the best of our continent.
“You only have to look at the list of nominees for this 2024 edition in Marrakech to see the constant evolution that our football is experiencing with African stars shining brightly in the four corners of the world.”
Bouzrara is a former member of the AIPS executive committee and vice-president of the Moroccan Sports Press Association. Jalal is fluent in Arabic, French and English, and can also speak Spanish and Portuguese.
-CAF
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As the best players from the African continent gather in Marrakech, Morocco for the 2024 CAF Awards on Monday, we are set to write another chapter in the history of the Men’s Player of the Year prize.
It is an award that has been handed out in many guises down the years, starting with France Football magazine in 1970, before the Confédération Africaine de Football took over the administering of the Player of the Year in 1992.
Five nominees remain for 2024, Cote d’Ivoire and Brighton & Hove Albion winger Simon Adingra is among the contenders, along with Borussia Dortmund’s Guinea international striker Serhou Guirassy and Morocco right-back Achraf Hakimi, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain.
Atalanta’s exciting winger Ademola Lookman will be the pick of Nigeria fans, while Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams will hope his exploits for South Africa at TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 see him claim the prize.
The winner will be unveiled at the 2024 CAF Awards which are to be staged at Marrakech’s Palais des Congrès on Monday with the ceremony set to kick off at 19h00 local time (18h00 GMT/ 20h00 Cairo time/ 21h00 East African time).
Past winners of the African Footballer of the Year award, which was first introduced more than a half century ago, come from 17 different Member Associations of CAF.
Cameroon are way ahead on the list of countries with the most awards, enjoying a total of 11 from Roger Milla’s first in 1976 to 2010 when Samuel Eto’o won the last of his record-breaking number of four triumphs.
The achievement of four awards for Eto’o was matched by Yaya Toure, who won his successively from 2011-2014.
Along with two awards for compatriot Didier Drogba, it means Cote d’Ivoire are joint second on the list of successful countries with a total of six awards.
This is shared with Nigeria, whose six awards are spread across Nwankwo Kanu (twice), Emmanuel Amuneke, Victor Ikpeba, Victor Osimhen and Rashidi Yekini. The fearsome striker Osimhen was last year’s winner.
Ghana has five awards, including three in a row for Abedi Pele, whose son Dede Ayew was third in 2015.
COUNTRIES TO WIN THE MEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR
11 – Cameroon
6 – Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria
5 – Ghana
4 – Morocco, Senegal
3 – Algeria, Egypt, Liberia
2 – Mali
1 – Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Togo, Tunisia, Zaire (now DR Congo), Zambia
-CAF
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Why Ademola Lookman is the right man for the CAF top Award – NFF
Keita, Caster Semenya, Zidan, Modise, Wanyama amongst the big names lined-up for CAF Awards on Monday night
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