The highly anticipated CAF Awards ceremony is set to make a grand return to Morocco this year to celebrate the shining stars of African football following the success of last year’s event in Rabat.
Organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the 2023 CAF Awards will take place on December 11, 2023, promising to be an even more exciting event.
“After last year’s successful event hosted in the Moroccan capital of Rabat which saw Senegal inspirational forward Sadio Mane and Nigeria and Barcelona top striker Asisat Oshoala claim honours, the CAF Awards will feature some of Africa’s finest stars,” CAF said today in a press release.
The prestigious award show will pay tribute to standout performers for both club and country over the past year, with the highlight of the event being the crowning of the CAF African Player of the Year in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Mane and Oshoala will be defending their titles against “stiff competition from some of the continent’s brightest stars who have shone in the last 12 months,” underlined the statement.
The men’s category boasts a distinguished list of previous winners, including Ivorian Yaya Toure, who won the award four times, Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o, and the legend Didier Drogba.
Other notable winners include Egypt’s Mohammed Salah, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, Nigeria’s Nwankwo Kanu, Ghana’s Abedi Pele, as well as the iconic George Weah, who is Liberia’s current president.
In the women’s category, Asisat Oshoala has dominated the award, claiming it five times in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022.
However, she will face fierce competition from previous winners who are still actively contributing to the sport like South Africa’s Thembi Kgatlana, added the statement.
The category also includes Nigerian star Perpetua Nkwocha, whose achievements have left a lasting mark on women’s football on the continent.
The CAF Awards will also feature other prestigious recognitions, including the Interclub Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, National Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, Club of the Year, and Goal of the Year.
Introduced last year after the successful launch of the CAF Women’s Champions League, the Interclubs Women’s Player of the Year award will continue to recognize and honor outstanding female players.
CAF noted that it will communicate the host city and precise timing of the event in due course.
