Lagos will host the CAF Awards 2026 on Monday, December 7, after the Confederation of African Football’s Executive Committee approved the date at a virtual meeting chaired by CAF President Patrice Motsepe on Friday, October 2. The same meeting fixed CAF’s Ordinary General Assembly for Saturday, November 21, also in Nigeria, which puts African football’s two biggest end-of-year gatherings in the country within three weeks of each other.
The Executive Committee also approved CAF’s competitions calendar for 2026 to 2030 and three changes to the regulations of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, two of which bear directly on Enugu Rangers and El-Kanemi Warriors as they prepare for the second preliminary round later this month.
| CAF Strategy Conference, Sal, Cabo Verde | 7 to 9 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| CAF Women's Champions League | 1 to 15 November 2026 |
| CAF Ordinary General Assembly, Nigeria | 21 November 2026 |
| Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal | 28 November to 6 December 2026 |
| CAF Awards 2026, Lagos | 7 December 2026 |
CAF Awards 2026 return Nigeria to the centre of African football
The awards come to Lagos after two editions in Morocco. Marrakech staged the 2024 ceremony, where Ademola Lookman was named African Player of the Year a year after Victor Osimhen won the same prize, giving Nigeria back-to-back winners for the first time since Nwankwo Kanu and Victor Ikpeba in 1996 and 1997. The Super Falcons were named Women’s National Team of the Year that night, and Chiamaka Nnadozie won the women’s goalkeeper award, which she retained at the 2025 edition in Rabat.
CAF hasn’t yet named the venue in Lagos, the nominees or the categories for this year’s edition. Hosting the General Assembly in November also means delegates from CAF’s 54 member associations will be in Nigeria twice before the end of the year, which raises the profile of the country’s football administration at a time when the NFF’s own leadership situation remains unresolved after last month’s postponed election.
What the new CAF club rules mean for Rangers and El-Kanemi
The most significant change for Nigerian clubs is that players can now play for more than one club during a single CAF interclub season, which gives clubs more freedom in the transfer market once the continental campaign has started. Clubs can also now register up to 40 players at any point in the season, and they’re allowed to replace four players during the last registration period.
For Rangers, who face MC Alger in the Champions League, and El-Kanemi, who meet Raja Casablanca in the Confederation Cup, the larger squad ceiling gives room to add cover if either club reaches the group stage. Both first legs are due in Nigeria between October 16 and 18, as we set out when the second-round pairings were confirmed. CAF hasn’t said from which registration window the changes take effect, so both clubs will be waiting on the confederation’s circular before relying on them.
The third change moves all disciplinary matters from CAF’s Interclub Committee to its Disciplinary Board, so sanctions arising from club matches will now be handled by the same body that deals with other disciplinary cases.
Women’s Champions League dates add urgency to the Edo Queens appeal
The Executive Committee set the CAF Women’s Champions League for November 1 to 15, which leaves little time to settle the dispute over the WAFU B qualifying final between Edo Queens and Ampem Darkoa. CAF annulled the penalty shootout that Edo Queens won and ordered extra time to be played, and the NFF has appealed the ruling on the grounds that the club shouldn’t be punished for a referee’s error. With the tournament now four weeks away, the outcome of that appeal will decide whether Nigeria has a representative in the competition.
