Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton has been awarded the Outstanding Management accolade at the 2018 Best of Africa Awards.
In February the Albion boss became the first African manager in the history of the Premier League to win Manager of the Month, and he spoke glowingly about the work that the movement does across the sport.
He said, “I’ve been involved with Best of Africa since its inception and am forever impressed by the continuing growth of this movement that celebrates the compassion and philanthropy of sports stars of African heritage.
“I am honoured to have received the Outstanding Achievement award, but I have really just been doing my job. So many of the people that surround us tonight do so much work campaigning for better living conditions and creating safe environments for some of Africa’s most vulnerable citizens.
“It’s a privilegle to be part of a celebration of this. Best of Africa puts philanthropy at the forefront of the agenda and highlights some fantastic work, it’s a movement that should be championed and it fills me with pleasure to see the awards going from strength to strength every year.”
The Best of Africa awards was a celebration of the charity work of Premier League footballers of African heritage. Now in its seventh year, the event saw a host of top flight players joined by representatives from the highest echelons of the business and charity worlds.
The Best of Africa judges are a collection of specially selected representatives from across the football and media communities. Comprising ambassadors from the FA and Premier League, as well as some of the most influential names in sports media, the panel deliberated for more than three weeks and their chosen winners were announced at the exclusive Black Tie dinner in front of more than 200 esteemed guests.
Best of Africa founder, Francis Nkwain, said: “The night was a celebration of the great work undertaken by Premier League footballers of African heritage in the UK. Many people are not aware of the lengths these players go to off the pitch to enhance the lives of the communities that raised them.
“We were honoured to have so many Premier League players attend the awards and are proud of everything they have achieved. We look forward to growing the Best of Africa family and are excited to start planning next year’s celebrations.”