Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has assured the Confederation of African Football (CAF) of the state authorities’s readiness to host the 2026 CAF Awards, scheduled for 7 December.
Mr Sanwo-Olu gave the reassurance after assembly a CAF delegation led by Christian Emeruwa, the organisation’s Head of Safety and Security and venture lead for the awards and its Ordinary General Assembly.
In a Facebook submit, the governor mentioned the state was dedicated to making certain a easy occasion, with explicit consideration to safety, logistics, branding and entry to the venue.
“Lagos is pleased to host the 2026 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards this December,r and we are committed to making it a memorable experience,” he wrote.
“Meeting with the CAF delegation, led by Dr Christian Emeruwa, Project Lead for the CAF Awards and CAF General Assembly, I assured them of our full support, with particular attention to security, logistics, branding and venue access.”
The governor mentioned the ceremony would supply a chance to showcase Lagos’ tradition, enterprise and hospitality to guests from throughout Africa and past.
The awards will convey collectively main African footballers, coaches, golf equipment and directors to recognise excellent performances within the males’s and ladies’s video games.
CAF delegation inspects amenities
The assembly comes as CAF and Nigerian authorities put together for 2 main occasions on the continental soccer calendar.
According to the inspection schedule introduced by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), a 15-member CAF delegation is on the bottom to assess amenities in Lagos and Abuja forward of the awards and the forty eighth CAF Ordinary General Assembly.
The inspection programme consists of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Eko Hotel & Suites and Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
In Abuja, the delegation is scheduled to examine the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Transcorp Hilton Hotel and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The General Assembly is scheduled for 21 November on the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja, whereas the awards ceremony will happen in Lagos on 7 December.
This newest inspection course of follows an earlier go to by CAF officers from 31 July to 4 August, when representatives of the establishments and companies concerned in organising the occasions mentioned coordination and different preparations.
A six-member NFF group led by its Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, can be anticipated to accompany the CAF delegation in the course of the inspections.
Nigeria’s historical past on the CAF Awards
The 2026 ceremony will give Nigerian soccer one other probability to characteristic prominently on the continent’s annual awards.
Nigeria has produced a number of winners within the males’s and ladies’s Player of the Year classes. Victor Osimhen gained the boys’s award in 2023, adopted by Ademola Lookman in 2024.
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Their successive victories continued a practice set by Nwankwo Kanu, who gained in 1996 and 1999, and Victor Ikpeba, who gained in 1997.
At the 2024 ceremony in Marrakech, Morocco, Nigeria’s Super Falcons had been named Women’s National Team of the Year, whereas goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie gained the Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award.
At the 2025 version in Rabat, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Ghizlane Chebbak gained the boys’s and ladies’s Player of the Year awards, respectively. Nnadozie retained the Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year honour.
Beyond recognising particular person and group achievements, the Lagos ceremony will place the state earlier than a global viewers of soccer officers, gamers and guests.
Mr Sanwo-Olu mentioned the state regarded ahead to welcoming soccer leaders and friends whereas demonstrating its capability to host main worldwide occasions.
The preparations would require coordination among the many state authorities, CAF, the NFF, and different related companies, notably on safety, transport, lodging, and entry to the ceremony venue.
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