Opinion: CAF Got It Wrong – Justin Madugu Deserved Women’s Coach of the Year Award

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has once again raised serious questions about its credibility after announcing Lamia Boumehdi of Morocco as the Women’s Coach of the Year.

While Boumehdi is a respected coach and currently in charge of TP Mazembe, the decision is difficult to understand when compared with the achievements of Nigeria’s Justin Madugu.

Boumehdi guided TP Mazembe to a third-place finish at the 2025 CAF Women’s Champions League, securing bronze after a 3–1 victory over Egypt’s FC Masar. While this is a commendable achievement, it falls short when placed beside Madugu’s success at international level.

Madugu led the Super Falcons to victory at the most recent Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, a major continental achievement that should carry significant weight in any award decision. Winning the Women’s AFCON remains the highest honour in African women’s football, and guiding a national team to that title is no small feat.

This raises a simple and important question: what criteria did CAF use to make this choice?

If winning the Women’s AFCON is no longer enough to earn the Coach of the Year award, then CAF owes African football fans a clear explanation. Many observers are left wondering whether recent CAF decisions are beginning to tilt too heavily in favour of host nations, particularly Morocco.

The long delay before the announcement of the award has also added to the suspicion and confusion surrounding the decision. Instead of celebrating excellence, CAF has created controversy and frustration among fans.

For many football followers, this decision only deepens the feeling that CAF’s award process lacks transparency and consistency.

Honestly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand CAF and the standards it now claims to uphold.