NUMEROUS African football stars, past and present, will be in Marrakech, Morocco for the 2023 CAF Awards, the continental football body has announced.
The CAF Awards will be held in the ancient Moroccan city tomorrow evening, with several prizes at stake.
Some of the legends to grace the ceremony are former award winners from Nigeria, Emmanuel Amuneke, Perpetua Nkwocha and Mercy Akide, who won the African Player of the Year prizes for men and women respectively as well as the Africa Cup of Nations and Women’s Africa Cup of Nations titles with the Super Eagles and Super Falcons.
Other Nigerian stars involved are midfield greats Austin Jay Jay Okocha and Mikel Obi, who both also won AFCON titles and came close to Player of the Year prizes.
“Among the prestigious guests who have confirmed their presence are football legends, music and art celebrities and prestigious names from other sporting disciplines, including Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Abedi Pele (Ghana), El Hadji Diouf (Senegal), Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Jonathan Pitroipa (Burkina Faso), Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia), Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), Perpetua Nkwocha (Nigeria), Patrick Mboma (Cameroon), Mikel Obi (Nigeria), among others,” CAF stated.
Former Super Falcons captain Onome Ebi, who is still playing active football at the age of 40 with Nigeria Women’s Football League club Naija Ratels, is also to attend the ceremony.
“These renowned personalities will bring an aura of grandeur to the event and help make this edition of the CAF Awards even more memorable,” the governing body added.
“The CAF Awards are a special opportunity to recognize and reward outstanding performances by African players, coaches, teams and clubs over a given period.”
For this year’s award, the period under consideration runs from November 2022 to September 2023 for the men’s categories and from December 2022 to November 2023 for the women’s categories, CAF explained.
Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Asisat Oshoala, Chiamaka Nnadozie, Deborah Abiodun and the Super Falcons are all up for prizes at tomorrow’s CAF Awards.
