Hakimi wins African Player of the Year award

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi has been named the best African player in the French league after helping his club win a record-extending 13th Ligue 1 title and reach the Champions League final. The 26-year-old won the Marc-Vivien Foe Trophy, beating Nice's Ivorian striker Yvan Guisand and Strasbourg's Senegalese midfielder Habib Diarra. The award is named after the late Cameroonian player Vivien Foe, a two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner who died on the pitch in France during a match for his country in 2003. Hakimi, considered one of the best right-backs in the world, scored last week in his team's 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. The Moroccan international is the second defender to win the award after Congolese Chancel Mbemba in 2023, and the fourth Moroccan to win it after Marouane Chamakh in 2009, Younes Belhanda in 2012, and Sofiane Boufal in 2016. Gabonese Aubameyang won the award last year. Paris Saint-Germain is seeking to achieve its first treble this season, as it will play the French Cup final against Reims and Inter Milan in the Champions League final on May 24 and 31.