Osimhen surpassed competition from Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah for the prestigious award.

The Super Eagles forward concluded a remarkable year in the imperial Moroccan city of Marakesh, ending Nigeria’s 24-year wait for Africa’s top individual prize, last won by legendary Kanu Nwankwo in 1999.

During the event, Osimhen expressed gratitude, acknowledging the impact of Nigerian legend Emmanuel Amuneke, who coached him at the U-17 level, and the support from fans and fellow players.

“It’s a dream come true for me. I want to thank everyone who has seen me through life’s journey, in achieving my dreams and goals. I appreciate Nigerians and Africa for their unwavering support and encouragement,” he said.

Osimhen recognised the influence of Emmanuel Adebayo, Solomon Kalu, and other African legends, expressing gratitude to his role model, Didier Drogba.

The award reflects Osimhen’s outstanding performances with Napoli, where he played a pivotal role in their Serie A title run, scoring 26 league goals and becoming the first African to win the top scorer award, breaking George Weah’s record in the Italian top-flight.”

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The African football governing body made the disclosure at the its 45th Ordinary General Assembly (“OGA”) in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

CAF said the significant increase of $21.6 million in revenue growth over the previous financial year was largely driven by an increase in both CAF’s sponsorship and television rights, setting the organisation firmly on a path to financial recovery.

The total competition expenses on prize money and tournaments for the year increased by 26% to $78.9 million, as CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe made good on the organisation’s promise to invest more money in CAF competitions and in making African football self-sustaining.

The body said it had to take some difficult decisions on the longstanding dispute with some of its partners by settling matters out of court.

This, plus other accounting standards provisions recommended by CAF auditors, it noted were fully provided for in the financials.

In the year under review, CAF stated that it recorded an improved total comprehensive loss position of $15.7 million from prior year position.

The Inter Club competitions (TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup) CAF Super Cup, CAF Women’s Champions League, FUTSAL and Africa Schools Program are expected to be delivered in the 2023/2024 financial year with a projected budget of $110 million, dedicated to organisation and prize money of these premier competitions.

The increased financial resources for the delivery of CAF Competitions seeks to increase the global popularity and stature of CAF’s blue chip tournaments.

The continental football body further stated that development expenditure increased from $19.3 million to almost $24 million, on account of an increase in the subvention pay out to Member Associations and Zonal Unions for Football Development on the continent.

According to CAF, its  investment in football development is expected to continue with a focus on Women and Youth competitions, capacity development of referees, investment in Video Assistant Referees (VAR) at the zonal level and strengthening governance and controls around funding to the Member Associations and Zones.

CAF has projected a further revenue increase in this financial year – on the back of the upcoming TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023.

The flagship tournament is scheduled to kick off in January 2024 in Cote d’Ivoire and is expected to provide a considerable boost to CAF’s coffers.

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The African Football Confederation (CAF) on Thursday acknowledged having received a declaration of interest from the three countries along with bids from Algeria, Botswana and Egypt.

The Kenyan government in December approved a cabinet proposal to back a bid for the biennial tournament, alongside two of its neighbours.

The government said a successful bid would help the national football team, Harambee Stars, achieve their target of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 2030.

On Wednesday, Kenyan Sports Minister Ababu Namwamba said he had held discussions with his Ugandan and Tanzanian counterparts, adding they plan to set up a joint bidding and organising committee for the event.

“Our joint bid with Uganda and Tanzania for the AFCON 2027 is a strong one. It is about time the Africa Cup of Nations comes to East Africa,” Namwamba told reporters.

Poor stadium infrastructure has been a problem for most East African nations, with national teams forced to play continental matches away from home.

Kenya has twice won the rights to stage continental tournament finals, the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 and the African Nations Championships (CHAN) in 2018, but both times was stripped of hosting rights due to the lack of internationally-approved stadiums.

Namwamba said Kenya would construct new high-class stadiums or renovate existing ones to meet international standards.

CAF will name the winning bid in September, along with the new venue for the 2025 tournament after original hosts Guinea were stripped of the right to hold the event last October.

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Other nations that must use a neutral ground for a home fixture between September 1-8 are Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Namibia and Niger.

Mali boasted six international-standard stadiums, including two in Bamako, when they staged the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations.

Poor stadium maintenance is a major problem in Africa and South African Patrice Motsepe warned offenders soon after being elected CAF president this year to rectify the situation or face the consequences.

The bans were confirmed when FIFA released the fixtures for the first two rounds of a group programme that also involves double matchdays in October and November.

All 40 teams bidding for five places at the 2022 finals in Qatar will play two fixtures — one home and one away — during September.

With only the 10 section winners advancing to the final elimination phase next March, the potential loss of home advantage for three matches could be crucial.

Countries whose stadium facilities and or playing surfaces were considered not up to international standards were allowed to nominate alternate venues.

Burkina Faso, Niger (both Marrakech), Djibouti (Rabat) and Mali (Agadir) opted for Morocco and Malawi and Namibia (both Soweto) selected South Africa.

The Central African Republic (Douala) picked Cameroon and Guinea-Bissau (Nouakchott) decided on Mauritania.

All the countries chose venues relatively close geographically except Djibouti as Djibouti City is about 5,600 kilometres (3,480 miles) southeast of Rabat if flying directly between the capital cities.

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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced this in a tweet on Tuesday, hours before the African Cup of Nations qualifier set to be played at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos today.

This comes after an earlier announcement that Iwobi had tested negative for COVID-19.

The management of the Super Eagles team had questioned Iwobi’s COVID-19 positive test result that forced the Everton star to miss Nigeria’s African cup of Nations qualifier against the Benin republic last week, Saturday.

The test result also meant that Iwobi, who immediately left the camp and went into isolation, may not feature in the team’s game against Lesotho.

But, the NFF, in a tweet on Tuesday morning, announced that further tests carried out on the player returned negative.

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The first round of CAF qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will feature 28 teams competing for 14 slots in the group stage, where the 26 top-ranked teams await. These opening fixtures include local rivalries between 2019 Africa Cup of Nations participants Burundi and Tanzania and a West African derby between Liberia and Sierra Leone.

As these qualifiers kick off around the continent, fans will be able to watch several of the first-round ties*, which will take place between 4 and 10 September 2019, live. FIFA is unveiling a landmark initiative by investing in the production of the broadcasting feed, thus giving fans in Africa and around the world unprecedented access to the African qualifiers.

The live streams and on-demand replays of these first-round encounters will be on FIFA.com and FIFA’s YouTube channel. Bringing this exciting action to a global audience for the first time underscores FIFA’s ongoing digital transformation and its ongoing efforts to support football development in Africa and connect more fans with the beautiful game.

African qualifiers traditionally provide plenty of surprises and memorable matches. Four of the five African teams at Germany 2006 were debutants at the global finals, including Angola and Togo, who each enter the fray for Qatar 2022 with challenging encounters in the opening qualifying round against Gambia and Comoros respectively.

Thirteen African nations have reached the FIFA World Cup in the competition’s history, with Brazil 2014 marking the first time that two countries from the continent had advanced to the knockout stage in the same edition. From George Weah and Samuel Eto’o to Mohamed Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, some of the world’s best footballers past and present call Africa home.

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The 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations is the 32^ndedition of the tournament which takes place every two years. Organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), it takes place from 21 June to 19 July 2019 and features 24 teams from across Africa.

With more than 50,000 tourists expected to join regular traffic in the cities across Egypt where matches are taking place, Cairo Metro network is playing a crucial role in keeping the tournament moving. Football fans from all over the African continent are using Cairo Metro Line 3 to reach the Stadium station to watch their national teams compete. Thales has supplied Revenue Collection System (RCS) and Integrated Communications and Security (ICS) solution for this line, contracted back in 2007.

In fact, three additional stations were put in service, ahead of the first match, specifically to aid increased demand from fans and citizens alike. And while looking after fans is an obvious priority for the duration of the football tournament, citizens deserve the most convenient, easy-to-use and practical solutions to keep everyone moving freely.

That’s where Thales technology shines. With a longstanding record of providing fully integrated solutions for the city’s Metro owner, National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), , the company first engaged with NAT when it first introduced Line 1 in the 1981. From that day forward, Thales has become the partner of choice for the supply of both Revenue Collection Systems (RCS) and Integrated Communications and Security systems (ICS) for all Cairo Metro Lines.

The expertise which has helped support an improved standard of urban services for the Egyptian people is, in effect, being leveraged so that all football fans and citizens are able to buy tickets and get to their destinations safely and smoothly without encumbrance.

Back in 2016, Thales was awarded for the supply of 850 gates for Cairo Metro Line 1 and Line 2, which is another sentiment for the company’s commitment in supporting its Egyptian customer.

With a doubling of the number of passengers carried on the line expected, safety is as always paramount. But at the same time, solutions which drive efficiency are essential so everyone can get their ticket and take their seat on time.

It’s an exciting time in Egypt right now, and not only because of the sizzling soccer. Development of new metro lines is being powered by some of the world’s foremost technology and expertise. And that means a great experience for football fans—and lasting value for citizens long after the Cup is hosted by one of Africa’s best football team.

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“It’s a measure of prudence. When you see the various countries that use VAR, they don’t rush into it from the start. It’s a technology that a lot of people don’t completely use yet.

“It was planned for the semi-finals to start with, but we insisted that we have to go a little bit further. The executive committee decided on the quarter-finals so that it’s a success”, Ahmad said in Cairo, on the eve of the opening match between host Egypt and Zimbabwe.

The announcement was one keenly awaited since the controversy that overshadowed the second leg of the CAF Champions League final between Tunisian club Esperance and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.

In an unprecedented decision, CAF ordered the match to be replayed following the Cup of Nations after Wydad walked off the pitch in protest and refused to return after a faulty VAR system was unavailable to judge a disallowed equaliser.

AFP

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According to him, “It’s a great feeling to win again. I’m happy and I would like to win it also next year! There have been many good moments in 2018″.

The 26-year-old Salah, who beat Medhi Benatia, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane and Thomas Partey to the award, is just the second player after Jay-Jay Okocha to win it two years running.

Yaya Toure is the only other player to have twice won the award in its current form while Nwankwo Kanu won it twice when it was a broader African Sports Personality award.

Salah scored 44 goals in 52 games for Liverpool last season, his first on Merseyside after joining them from Roma, and helped them to reach the Champions League final.

His club form has continued this season with his winner against Napoli on Tuesday that saw the Reds into the Champions League last 16 taking his tally to 13.

“I’m scoring goals and helping the team to get the points to be top of the league. That’s always a great feeling.”

Salah also scored twice for Egypt at the World Cup in Russia.

Earlier in 2018, Salah won the English double — the Players’ Player of the Year and the Football Writers’ Player of the Year.

Salah also won the 2017 CAF Player of the Year and is one of 10 nominees for the 2018 award which will be announced in January.

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