♣ Awards

The CAF Awards is an awards evening held to honour the best African association football players. It is conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

History

The CAF Awards was first awarded in the year 2000. It is an award contested by the Confederation of African Football and awarded to the best African player in each category. The African Footballer of the Year award is the oldest CAF award, being awarded since 1992 that witnessed Abedi Pele winning the inaugural award.

▼ Connection Pages

African Footballer of the Year

The African Footballer of the Year award, presented to the best African footballer each year, has been conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1992.

Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Touré have won the award the most times (4 wins each), Two-time winner Didier Drogba is the player with the most runner-up appearances (4), most third place finishes (3), and most times in the top three (9). The France-born Frédéric Kanouté, Riyad Mahrez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the only European-born players to win the award (both Kanouté and Aubameyang initially featured for France's U21 squad before going on to represent Mali and Gabon, respectively). The winner of the 2023 edition is Victor Osimhen.

History

An earlier African Footballer of the Year Golden Ball award was given out between 1970 and 1994 by France Football magazine. The changes resulted in parallel Golden Ball awards given out to Abedi Pele and George Weah in 1993 and 1994 by the magazine, although the CAF sponsored awards for those years were won respectively by Rashidi Yekini and Emmanuel Amuneke, as well as two awards given to Abedi Pele in 1992. France Football discontinued the election from 1995 after the European Ballon d'Or – also awarded by the magazine – had been opened to all players in the European leagues. In 1991 the magazine Afrique Football installed an award. It was discontinued in 2003.

In 2023, Algerian footballer Riyad Mahrez was not chosen as a finalist for the award. Mahrez's absence was perceived as a snub by media and the Algerian football community. Algerian manager Abdelhak Benchikha, nominated for Best African Coach, said he would not attend the CAF awards ceremony in solidarity with Mahrez, Algerian club USM Alger, and Algerian footballer Zinedine Belaid. Walid Sadi, the president of the Algerian Football Federation, also said that he would not attend the ceremony as a show of support for Mahrez.

CAF Coach of the Year

CAF Youth Player of the Year

CAF Team of the Year

The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards.

In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten players chosen were Mahmoud El Khatib and Hossam Hassan of Egypt, Roger Milla and Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon, Abedi Pele of Ghana, Kalusha Bwalya of Zambia, George Weah of Liberia, Rabah Madjer of Algeria, Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast, and Nwankwo Kanu of Nigeria.

CAF Goalkeeper of the Year

African Inter-Club Player of the Year (Based in Africa)

▶ CAF Awards Go page