President Kagame And King Mohammed VI Of Morocco Awarded CAF President Outstanding Achievement Award By Dr. Motsepe
Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Dr. Patrice Motsepe conferred CAF President’s Outstanding Achievement Award 2022 to His Excellency President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco in Kigali, Rwanda in a glittering event.
The event took place at Serena Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda on Tuesday 14th March 2023
The event was attended by President Kagame, a representative of King Mohammed VI and Minister of National Education and Sport Chakib Benmoussa, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Presidents from a number of Confederations, Football Presidents from the 54 CAF Member Associations and CAF Executive Committee members.
A number of top African legends were in attendance including Black Stars’ Asamoah Gyan, Cameroonian legend in women’s football Gaelle Enganamouit, South African record-breaking women footballer Portia Modise and compatriot Amanda Dlamini, Senegal’s Khalilou Fadiga, DR Congo’s Herita Ilunga, Indomitable Lion’s Pierre Webo, former South Africa captain Lucas Radebe, Ghana’s Kwadwo Asamoah, Nigeria’s Super Falcons legend Perpetua Nkwocha.
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino said that the awards are bestowed to the two leaders as outstanding personalities for their incredible contribution to the development of football.
The award for the King of Morocco was received by Minister Chakib Benmoussa, who revealed that his country will partner with Spain to host the World Cup in 2030.
President Kagame expressed their deepest thanks for the award which is among the things people receive unexpectedly.
The Head of State said that football was among the things that played a significant role in the country’s history even during the Liberation Struggle.
“This country for which you are honorable guests has had its history. We have been able to draw a lot of lessons from that history. One of the things that helped us to go through those extremely challenging circumstances was football,” he noted.
Kagame explained that a few months before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, there was a lot of fighting and sectarianism where sports, particularly football was ‘one of the things that people clung to that kept bringing them together.
“I remember when we had ceased fire, and the fighting parties had ceased to do that, one of the things that were immediately thought about was football,” he noted.
The President observed that progress has been done for the development of football in Rwanda but insisted that there are still areas of improvements.
He however expressed optimism that Rwanda will do more on the support of FIFA and CAF.
“We are still not yet where we want to be but with your presence here, the efforts and promises made through CAF and FIFA and fall friends around, we should be very soon where we want to be and we are following in the footsteps of these other brothers and sisters of our Africa who already making it to that high level of global standing,” said Kagame.
The Head of State congratulated Morocco for its performance which reached semi-finals of the last FIFA World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
