Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman has been crowned the 2024 African Footballer of the Year at the Confederation of African Football (Caf) Awards in Marrakesh.
The Atalanta forward saw off competition from Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra, Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy, Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and South Africa’s Ronwen Williams.
Lookman is the second consecutive Nigerian to claim the award after Victor Osimhen in 2023.
Orlando Pride striker Barbra Banda made history as the first Zambian to win the women’s prize, finishing ahead of Moroccan Sanaa Mssoudy and Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie.
The winners are voted for by a panel of experts which includes members of Caf’s technical committee plus African media professionals, players and coaches.
Lookman’s standout year
Lookman, 27, was hot favourite to pick up the award for the first time in his career after an impressive 2023-24 season.
He played a key role in helping his Italian club win the first European trophy in their history with a memorable hat-trick in the final against Bayer Leverkusen – making him the sixth player to score a treble in a European club final and the first since 1975.
On the international scene, Lookman was named in the team of the tournament at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, scoring three goals as the Super Eagles finished as runners-up to the hosts in February.
The former Everton, Fulham and Leicester City player was also the only African on this year’s men’s Ballon d’Or shortlist, finishing 14th.
Lookman has again proved instrumental for Atalanta this season, scoring eight goals in Serie A to help his team go top of the table.
Banda’s back-to-back awards
Banda’s success comes less than a month after she was voted the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year.
The 24-year-old was also named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) as she fired her team Orlando Pride to a first title.
The striker’s 17 goals resulted in her finishing second in the scoring charts – behind only Malawi’s Temwa Chawinga – with her most crucial strike coming in the Championship final as Pride beat Washington Spirit 1-0.
Banda was also in fine form for her country at the Paris Olympics, scoring four goals for Zambia’s Copper Queens, including a first-half hat-trick against Australia.
Her 10 goals spread across two Games have made her the leading African scorer in Olympic history.
Source: BBC
