Moroccan football reached an unprecedented high at the 2025 CAF Awards in Rabat on Wednesday, where they swept six of the honours on offer, including the main awards: the men’s and women’s African Player of the Year, which Achraf Hakimi and Ghizlane Chebbak won.

Hakimi finally beat Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen and Egyptian king Mohammed Salah after finishing as runners-up in the last two editions. But it was no shock, as the Moroccan defender earned it through an extraordinary year that was pivotal to PSG winning all four domestic trophies in France, and most notably, lifting their first-ever UEFA Champions League trophy, while also winning the silver medal at the Club World Cup. 

Osimhen and Salah — like every other African male footballer who had a productive campaign this year —  didn’t match Hakimi’s impact, positional differences aside. That is why his victory was widely accepted across the board. However, the women’s category proved far more contentious, as Chebbak edged Nigeria’s captain, Rasheedat Ajibade, to the prize. 

Nigerians’ Grouse with CAF

Days before the award ceremony in Rabat, CAF had been under fire for exempting Esther Okoronkwo from their top three shortlist. It made little sense that the Super Falcons forward, who has registered 29 goal contributions in 30 matches for club and country in 2025 — the most by any African player so far in the year — was missing in the final shortlist. The 2024 edition of WAFCON took centre stage in the year in review, so it undoubtedly informed a significant part of the selection process. Then again, the 27-year-old was arguably the best player at WAFCON 2024, dragging the Super Falcons to the final of the continental tournament in Morocco, and igniting the team’s comeback against the host nation with a goal and two assists to complete Mission X. The final took her tally in the competition to two goals and six assists after her MOTM performance in the demolition of Zambia in the quarter-final, but somehow, these weren’t enough for her to win the WAFCON POTY and drew little outrage since the eventual winner was compatriot Ajibade, who wasn’t entirely undeserving.

Chebbak was always a strong contender, having gallantly captained the Lionesses to the WAFCON final and finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with five goals. But that was essentially the peak of her year. At the club level, she spent most of the season with Levante Badalona in Spain before later moving to Al Hilal, yet her combined output across both teams amounted to barely five goal contributions and no trophies. In contrast, Ajibade enjoyed a far more productive year with Atlético Madrid before sealing her career-defining move to PSG after WAFCON. Her double-digit goal contributions for Atlético were pivotal to the club finishing third in Liga F last season, ten places above Chebbak’s Levante.

If Esther’s goal-laden contributions and the NSL 2025 Shield for AFC Toronto in the Canadian league can be swept under for obscurity, Ajibade’s in Spain and France certainly cannot, all the more so considering she captained the WAFCON 2024 winners and was named the tournament’s best player.

There’s nothing that places Chebbak above these two ladies in the year in review. While Moroccan football’s profile has unquestionably been on the rise in recent times, hosting continental events across all levels and carrying Africa’s profile on the global stage, CAF need not stretch that admiration into decisions that undermine merit or dilute the credibility of its flagship competitions and awards.