Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the country’s bid to host the 2026 CAF Awards as Nigeria intensifies efforts to stage two major African football events.
The approval was confirmed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which also disclosed that the president endorsed Nigeria’s proposal to host the 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly later this year.
The announcement was made during the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi following a meeting between Tinubu and Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Also present were Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Gusau and former NFF president Amaju Pinnick.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, is expected to bring together football leaders from CAF’s 54 member associations and its six zonal unions.
The CAF Awards, regarded as one of Africa’s biggest football events, celebrates outstanding players, coaches and contributors across the continent.
Nigeria last hosted the awards ceremony in 2017 when Riyad Mahrez won the men’s Player of the Year award and Asisat Oshoala claimed the women’s category.
The most recent ceremony was held in Rabat, where Achraf Hakimi and Ghizlane Chebbak won the men’s and women’s African Footballer of the Year awards respectively.
Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman won the men’s African Footballer of the Year titles in 2023 and 2024, while Oshoala secured the women’s crown again in 2023, extending her record to six titles.
