The African Football Confederation (CAF) announced today that this year’s edition of the CAF Awards will take place on July 21 in Morocco.
The CAF Awards is an annual ceremony that honors African clubs, coaches, and players who excelled throughout the footballing season.
After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the prestigious continental award ceremony is set to return and celebrate different elements of African football.
“This year’s edition of the prestigious award ceremony for African football, the CAF Awards 2022, will return on Thursday, 21 July 2022 in Morocco,” the African football governing body announced on its website.
The award ceremony is scheduled to take place ahead of the final game of the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), due to be held from July 2 to 23 in Morocco.
To mark the second anniversary of the CAF women’s football strategy, a 4-year-plan that seeks to develop and promote women’s football, the African confederation decided to add a new category to the annual ceremony – Interclubs Women Player of the Year.
Read also: CAF 2022: Moroccan Teams Dominate African Football
CAF further detailed the program of the highly-anticipated awards ceremony, noting that this year’s event will feature awards in other categories in addition to the traditional — and coveted — prizes of Player of the Year for men and women.
These other categories include 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.
“The winners will be decided by votes from captains and coaches of the Member Associations, selected journalists, CAF Technical Study Group, and CAF Legends,” CAF noted.
Senegal to Stand Out
While the list of nominees for the prestigious awards has not been revealed yet, several reports have hinted at an anticipated dominance of Senegal players and staff over the coveted prizes.
The West African country won this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, and a number of standout Senegalese players are widely considered to be among the best in the world in their respective positions.
In the previous edition of the CAF Awards held in 2019 in Hurghada, Egypt, the then Liverpool winger and soon-to-be Bayern Munich player Sadio Mane was crowned Africa’s men’s player of the year, while Nigerian striker Asisat Oshoala was nominated women’s player of the year.
Meanwhile, the head coach of Algeria’s AFCON-winning football team, Djamal Belmadi, was named coach of the year after leading the Algerian team to the continental crown in 2019.
Morocco’s Atlas Lions also had their share of recognition after Paris Saint-Germain right-back Achraf Hakimi received the young player of the year award.
