Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman has been crowned the 2024 African Footballer of the Year.
He won the award ahead of competitors, including South Africa’s Ronwen Williams, Cote d’Ivoire’s Simon Adingra, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy.
Lookman, who plays for Italian side Atalanta, follows in the footsteps of his national teammate Victor Osimhen, who won the award last year.
More to follow….
The Libya Football Federation (LFF) has launched an appeal to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the punishment meted out to them on the botched 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Nigeria.
Daily Trust had reported how the Super Eagles of Nigeria faced significant challenges, including a redirected flight, over 18 hours of delays, and logistical issue during a trip for return leg of the 1-0 match in favour of Nigeria in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
As a result, CAF canceled the match, awarding three goals and three points to the Super Eagles while slamming a $50,000 fine on the Libyans.
A statement by CAF Disciplinary Board in its ruling on Saturday, signed by the chairman, Ousmane Kane, said the Disciplinary Board ruled met and decided as follows:
The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the Africa Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.
“The match No. 87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October in Benghazi) declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).
“The Libya Football Federation is ordered to pay a fine of USD 50,000. The fine is to be paid within 60 days of notification of the present decision. All other and further motions or prayers for relief are dismissed.”
However, according to Libyan outlet alwasat.ly, the LFF considers as unfair the decision that has placed them at the bottom of Group D in the AFCON qualifiers.
The Libyan authorities have therefore engaged the services of a Tunisian lawyer, Ali Abbas, to defend their position.
The outcome of this appeal could have significant implications for the ongoing qualification process, particularly for Nigeria, who currently needs only one more point to secure their place in the competition in Morocco.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded Nigeria a 3-0 win and full three points in the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier with Libya.
The governing body announced the verdict in a statement on Saturday.
Daily Trust had reported how the Super Eagles faced significant challenges, including a redirected flight, over 18 hours of delays, and logistical issue during a trip for return leg of the 1-0 match in favour of Nigeria in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
After the 46th Ordinary General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, had vowed that appropriate action would be taken on the issue.
During his address, Motsepe who refrained from any detailed explanation on the incident, said CAF will no longer tolerate such instances across the continent.
But he assured that “the process has been properly investigated and appropriate action will be taken”.
He said “When there was this problem with the Nigerian national team in Libya, and I will not comment on that, because there’s a proper investigation.
“But I want to emphasise a principle that we will not tolerate, because this is something that has been going on for quite some time.
Your national team, let me emphasise, forget about the Nigeria and Libya situation, because that process has been properly investigated, and appropriate action will be taken.”
The South African highlighted recurring instances in African football where visiting teams are sometimes treated poorly.
“Too many stories have been told of national teams or football clubs going to a country, and they spend hours at the airport, being asked about documents that don’t exist,” Motsepe said.
Nigeria’s bid to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations with Benin Republic has been dashed.
This follows the decision of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to award the rights to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
CAF also confirmed Morocco will host the 2025 edition.
