2016 Glo CAF Awards Makes Record Global Hits On Internet

CAF President, Alhaji Issa Hayatou (far right) assisted by Nigeria’s Minister of Sports, Barrister  Solomon Dalung (second right) and Globacom’s Executive Director, Legal Services, Mrs Gladys Talabi (far left) presenting the 2016 African Footballer of the Year award to Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez (second left) at the 2016 Glo-CAF Awards gala in Abuja recently. 

OKAFOR MOSES CHINEDU

The Silver Jubilee edition of Glo-CAF Awards which was held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, Nigeria on 5 January, 2017 took the center stage on the internet and was the focus of the world throughout the duration of the event and after. The event did not only dominate online media but also trended across various cities in different parts of the world.

The awards gala, which celebrated the best of African football, was very visible on various online platforms in Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East and America.

From London to Los Angeles, Tripoli to Capetown, Frankfurt to Moscow, Ontario to Warsaw, Gatwick to Tokyo and Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria, it was Glo-CAF Awards all the way as different activities that happened before, during and after the gala attracted comments, views and opinions of people across the world.

Different issues, ranging from musicians that performed at the event to fashion, award winners as well as the ambience of the venue formed the basis of major conversations on the social media.

Also, the mentions and impressions covered the pre-event activities, the duo of Richard Mofe-Damijo and Mimi Fawaz who anchored the show as Masters of Ceremony, the Green Carpet, the back stage, the live events, the presentation ceremony, the speeches and the post events featured prominently on Facebook, Instagram and twitter.

Generally, the 2016 Glo-CAF Awards received over 60,000 mentions in thousands of online platforms and over 152,000 engagements around the topic while a total of 894, 699 impressions were generated.

The conversation #GloCafAwards2016, according to Trendsmap.com, trended in 40 cities across the world and was exposed to over 800 million accounts online, thus surpassing the 2015 event which trended in 25 cities.

The breakdown of the countries where the event trended most included South Africa (17.1%), United States of America (13.6%), Nigeria and Uganda (13%), Egypt (11.4%), France (7.5%), Algeria (7.4%), Portugal (6.8%) and Kenya (6.1%).

Also, associated searches were mostly concentrated on Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, Yemi Alade, Diamond Platnumz, Sadio Mane and Flavour, while top searches focused on Riyad Mahrez, Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang and Globacom, the grandmasters of data that has sponsored the event for the past twelve years.

Some of the prominent comments include that of ex-England International, Gary Lineker who said “congratulations to @Mahrez 22 on becoming African Footballer of the Year. Thoroughly deserved,” while another Footballer, Thiago Silver  commented thus: ”Good luck@bvb Aubameyang7. We keep our fingers crossed #Glo CAFAwards2016”.

The English Champions league website also congratulated the winner “Leicester star, Riyad Mahrez named African Player of the Year, Congratulations.” Also, Barclays Premiership said ”Algeria and Leicester City winger, Riyad Mahrez is Africa’s best after being named African Player of the Year beating Mane, #GloCAF Awards2016”.

There were other conversations from Bleacher Report Uk, ITV News Central, Salisbury News, BBC World Service, BBC Africa, Rednorth, CNN, London, Galsen foot.com, Borrussia Dortmund, BVB Pakistan, All AfricaFRA, Inform sports, Fussball in China, Uk Soccer and Global Publishers.

The BBC, while commenting on the awards said ”Leicester City forward Riyad Mahrez  named African footballer of the Year #GloCAF Awards2016”, while Leicester City Football Club also commented: “Congratulation to @Mahrez 22, who was last night named African Player of the Year.”

Also, hundreds of comments were recorded from different nationals across the World.  Some of those who commented were Manuel Alexander from United Kingdom, Kateb Mebruok from Egypt, Justice from Congo, Christophe Maurer from Germany, Gary Al –Smith from Scotland, and Michael from United States who was delighted with the show, saying ”I love the music-football relationship being displayed at #Glo-Caf Awards2016. God bless Africa.”

The Worldwide visibility enjoyed by the  2016 Glo-CAF Awards confirmed its rating as Africa’s biggest platform for honouring the continent’s best footballers and administrators who have excelled in the game of football.