Nigeria will host the first ever African Nations League in 2029 and the 2026 CAF Awards. The country will host the CAF Awards ceremony and the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football later this year.
The Nigeria Football Federation announced that it will mark the country’s return to the center of African football’s administrative calendar after years away from both events. A statement from the NFF says that Nigeria President Bola Tinubu approved the hosting of both events following a meeting with CAF President Patrice Motsepe on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya.
Director of Communications – Ademola Olajire confirmed the statement made by the NFF.
Additionally, CAF Director of Communications – Lux September said that the meeting included more expansive conversations between the two sides. “They discussed several topics including government cooperation, football and the private sector in Nigeria and Africa,” said September.
The 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly is scheduled to be held in October, while the date of the CAF Awards ceremony has yet to be announced.
Reportedly, this will be for the first time that the CAF Awards will return to Nigeria since January 2017, when Abuja hosted the 2016 edition of the ceremony at the International Conference Centre. The event was observed for the fifth time in Nigeria and had hosted the awards since 2005.
Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won the Men’s Player of the Year award, and Cameroon’s Gaëlle Enganamouit won the Women’s Player of the Year.
It will also be the first time since 2022 that the ceremony will not be held in Morocco. The North African nation hosted four consecutive editions from 2022 through 2025, staging the event in Rabat and Marrakech.
The CAF General Assembly, which brings together presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives from the six zonal unions and senior football officials from across the continent, last convened in Nigeria in February 2009, when Lagos hosted the congress at which elections to the CAF and FIFA Executive Committees were held.
The NFF described the CAF Awards as an annual showpiece event that celebrates the best performers in African football in an atmosphere of glitz, glamour and sheer panache.
Nigeria has a distinguished history with the awards. The country has produced multiple winners of the Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year across the editions it has hosted, and Nigerian footballers have claimed the Women’s prize in the majority of editions since the award was introduced.
The announcement came as Nigerian football prepares for a significant year on the continental stage, with the country also awarded hosting rights for the inaugural African Nations League in 2029.