The Confederation of African Football, organisers of the most prestigious annual African Footballer of the Year award and its sponsor, Globacom, have assured the global football fraternity that the 2013 Glo-CAF Awards slated for January 9, 2014 in Lagos will be magical in scope and scale.

Both Globacom and CAF gave the assurance at a joint press conference in Lagos on Monday.  Globacom’s National Sales Coordinator, Segun Adeyemo represented the company while the Director of Media Division, Confederation of African Football, Mr. Junior Binyam, spoke on behalf of CAF.

Both Glo and CAF said every attention has been paid to great details to ensure the emergence of a credible winner through a very transparent process. They also pledged that the presentation ceremony to be held at Eko Hotel will be an unprecedented spectacle.

According to Globacom,  the 2013 Glo-CAF Awards with the theme: “Icons of Africa: Past, Present, Future,” is aimed at “honouring the legacy of the past; celebrating the Icons of today and inspiring the Icons of the future.”  

Coming on the heels of the release of the list of Top 25 African best players by CAF, Binyam stated that coaches and captains of African national football teams will vote for the best player in the continent and the list will be pruned down from 25 to the Top Ten, Top Five and Top Three in subsequent weeks. He said one of the Top Three will be unveiled as the winner at the awards night. “The count down to the Awards night has started,” he said.

Binyam commended Globacom for sponsoring the Glo-CAF Awards since 2005, adding that the partnership is worth celebrating.  

He called on African companies to support African football at both local and International levels, adding that the continent stands to gain tremendously from such support.

The Globacom representative, Adeyemo said the company’s  partnership with CAF, which is in its 8th year, is in “line with its vision of raising the profile of African football and the continent’s players, just as the Glo network is dedicated to adding value to the lives of the people in the countries where the company has its footprint.”

Said he: “The Glo-CAF award is instituted as an annual event to bestow  honour  on individuals within the fraternity of football in Africa who distinguished themselves by putting up outstanding performances in their core areas of strength within the year under review.  They include players, managers, administrators and football supporters.”

According to him, “the award recognizes the exemplary contributions such categories of people have made toward the development and promotion of football, on and off the pitch within the period.   In addition to using the award to boost the performances of footballers within the continent, it also enhances the standard of play and the administration of football in the continent.”

He saluted African young men and women footballers who have been plying their trade with all sense of responsibility and dignity all over the world, adding that “their football sense and artistry has given us the hope that one day, an African nation will win the FIFA World Cup.”