The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Tuesday, November 10, a new date for the 2026 CAF Awards ceremony. The event will now take place on December 2, instead of December 7, as initially scheduled.
The original venue, the Nigerian city of Lagos, remains unchanged. The CAF Awards are returning to Nigeria for the first time since the 2014 edition, when Ivory Coast’s Yaya Touré received the African Player of the Year award.
“Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, will provide a setting worthy of the event, bringing together the passion of football and the richness of Africa’s cultural heritage through music and entertainment,” CAF said in its statement.
The Confederation specified that the ceremony will be held at the Professor Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts (National Theatre) in Lagos, starting at 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT).
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The 2026 CAF Awards will honor figures from across African football in 18 categories, including African Player of the Year and African Women’s Player of the Year, commonly referred to as the African Ballon d’Or awards.
Coaches, goalkeepers, young talents, clubs and national teams that have stood out during 2026 will also be recognized. Moroccan representatives have been nominated in every category.
Voting is currently underway. It opened on November 5 and will close on November 20, covering all categories.
CAF member associations, clubs, eligible coaches and team captains have been invited to “directly express their choices in order to recognize the most outstanding figures of the year.”
“This system is designed to ensure broad representation across African football, as well as fairness and transparency in selecting the winners. Independent oversight is also planned to safeguard the integrity of the results,” CAF explained.
