The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rescheduled the 2026 CAF Awards ceremony from December 7 to December 2, following concerns over the availability of nominees playing for European clubs.
Gatekeepers News reports that the ceremony will now take place at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts, formerly known as the National Theatre, in Lagos.
A CAF official, who spoke on the change, said European clubs were reluctant to release their players for the original December 7 date, raising concerns that several nominees could miss the ceremony.
The official explained that CAF had to adjust the schedule to ensure that award nominees would be available to attend the event.
“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 said.
The 2026 edition will mark the return of the CAF Awards to Lagos for the first time since 2014.
The National Theatre is expected to provide a platform for celebrating outstanding achievements in African football while showcasing Nigeria’s cultural heritage through music, dance and other artistic performances.
The ceremony will recognise excellence across 18 categories, with the CAF Men’s and Women’s Players of the Year awards expected to attract significant attention.
Goalkeepers, coaches and emerging talents whose performances have stood out over the past 10 months will also be recognised.
Voting for the 2026 CAF Awards opened on November 5 and will close on November 20 for the men’s and women’s categories.
The voting process involves national team coaches and captains, CAF’s Technical Study Group and selected media representatives, who will determine winners across the various categories.
CAF said the process was designed to promote fairness, transparency, integrity and broad representation in selecting the continent’s outstanding football talents.
Meanwhile, Nigerian players have received nominations in other categories of the awards, but, for the first time, no Nigerian footballer was nominated for either the Men’s or Women’s Player of the Year award.
