Former Nigeria Football Association chairman Kojo Williams has said Nigeria cannot fault CAF for leaving Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman off the 2026 CAF Awards shortlists, insisting the country’s results over the past year offered no basis for complaint.
Williams was speaking on ThePlayzone Podcast, in remarks reported by AllNigeriaSoccer and carried by Premium Times, as the row over Nigeria’s omission from the CAF Awards shortlists gathered pace this week.
“It won’t be fair to me to say that I am surprised, but it all has to do with our performances, what we’ve done in the last year,” Williams said. “So if we’re not doing the right thing, of course, they won’t pick us. Did we qualify for the World Cup? We didn’t win the AFCON. You cannot fault that.”
The former administrator was pointing to a grim 12 months for Nigerian football. The Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after losing the African qualifying play-off final to DR Congo on penalties, and finished third at the last Africa Cup of Nations. The Super Falcons endured a difficult period of their own, missing out on qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup and failing to finish among the top three at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Kojo Williams CAF Awards: why Osimhen missed out
Osimhen’s absence from the shortlist has drawn the most attention. The Galatasaray striker scored four goals at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and helped his club retain the Turkish Super Lig title, scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Antalyaspor that sealed the championship. Williams acknowledged the forward’s quality but suggested the league he plays in may have counted against him.
“Yes, Victor did well in Europe, but you had the other guys from other teams like PSG, and maybe the league he’s playing in. Yes, he won African Footballer of the Year when he was playing for Napoli. He’s a great player,” Williams said.
The 10-man shortlist for Men’s Player of the Year comprises Amad Diallo, Yoane Wissa, Antoine Semenyo, Ismael Saibari, Achraf Hakimi, Brahim Diaz, Ismaila Sarr, Pape Gueye, Sadio Mane and Teboho Mokoena. No Nigerian features in any of the seven men’s categories, and Nigeria has no player in the running for Women’s Player of the Year either, although the country does hold four nominations on the women’s lists.
Some fans have argued that Nigeria’s AFCON bronze medal and three selections in the official Team of the Tournament deserved recognition. Williams disagrees, and his message is that the results, not the reputation, decide the list.
Nigeria’s proud CAF Awards history — and a new date for Lagos
The snub is a break with a proud recent run. Osimhen won the Men’s Player of the Year award in 2023 during his time at Napoli, and Lookman claimed it in 2024. Before them, Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amuneke, Nwankwo Kanu and Victor Ikpeba all won the men’s prize, while Asisat Oshoala, Perpetua Nkwocha, Cynthia Uwak and Mercy Akide have claimed the women’s award.
Nigeria will still host the ceremony, which returns to the country for the first time in 12 years — but the date has changed. CAF has moved the awards forward from Monday 7 December to Wednesday 2 December, at the Professor Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts in Lagos, starting at 7pm Nigerian time. Voting runs from 5 to 20 November across 18 categories.
For the Super Eagles, the next chance to change the narrative comes on Friday, when Nigeria host Tanzania in Uyo at 5pm in the AFCON 2027 qualifiers. Eric Chelle’s 24-man squad is at full strength for the first time this week, and a convincing win at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium would be the perfect answer to a week in which Nigerian football has been told, bluntly, to look at itself. Check today’s predictions for the full build-up to Friday’s game.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (public domain) — collage by SportsBuddy
