The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rescheduled the 2026 CAF Awards ceremony, bringing the prestigious event forward by five days to Wednesday, December 2, in Lagos, Nigeria.
The ceremony, which was initially scheduled for December 7, will now begin at 7 pm Nigerian time at the Professor Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts, formerly known as the National Theatre.
CAF announced the adjustment on Tuesday, November 10, confirming that the event would bring together some of the continent’s biggest football stars, coaches, clubs and national teams to celebrate outstanding achievements over the past year.
Although CAF did not officially disclose the reason for the change, a report by The Guardian quoted a CAF official as saying that the decision was influenced by the reluctance of European clubs to release their players for the original date.
The official explained that the governing body wanted to avoid a situation where several nominees would be unable to attend the ceremony because of their club commitments.
“We had no choice really. You do an event, and the winners are not there, or you change [the date] so they can be there,” the official reportedly said.
The 2026 edition will mark the return of the CAF Awards to Lagos for the first time since 2014, offering Nigeria another opportunity to showcase its cultural heritage and hospitality to the continent’s football community.
The awards will recognise excellence across 18 categories, including the highly anticipated Men’s Player of the Year and Women’s Player of the Year prizes.
Other categories will celebrate outstanding coaches, goalkeepers, emerging talents, clubs and national teams that have made significant contributions to African football.
Meanwhile, voting for the 2026 awards is already underway and will run from November 5 to November 20 across the men’s and women’s categories.
CAF said its member associations and clubs would participate in the voting process, with eligible coaches and captains also encouraged to cast their votes. Independent monitoring will be used to safeguard the credibility and transparency of the process.
However, Nigeria’s return as host nation comes against the backdrop of a disappointing nomination outcome for its senior national teams.
For the first time since the introduction of the Women’s Player of the Year award in 2001, no Super Falcons player has been nominated for the prize. Similarly, the Super Eagles have no representative on the men’s shortlist, with former winners Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman missing from the 10-player selection.
Nigeria will, however, have some representation in other categories, with Flamingos stars Janet Akekoromowei and Oluwakemi Adegbuyi nominated for the Best Young Player award, while Edo Queens goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma is in contention for the women’s goalkeeper prize.
With the countdown to December 2 underway, attention will turn to Lagos as Africa’s football community prepares to celebrate another year of individual brilliance and collective achievements.
