Achraf Hakimi named Arab Sportsman of the Year

Achraf Hakimi was absent from PSG's Saturday training session but his name didn't appear on the club's latest medical update later on the day. Turns out the Morocco international was getting handed a bright award that evening!

All question marks floating above Hakimi's situation were answered late Saturday when we discovered Hakimi was attending the Joy Awards gala in which he was named Arab "Sportsman of the Year" for 2022.

The Morocco international, who helped his country reach a historic third-place game after losing the semi-finals in the 2022 World Cup, was named Best Male Athlete of the year at the Joy Awards.

Hakimi received the award along with his mother in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday evening. That was, in fact, the reason why he didn't return to Paris with the rest of the PSG contingent.

Achraf Hakimi attended the Joy Awards on Saturday, got named "Best Male Athlete" of the year

“I’m really happy to be here with my mother supporting me," said Hakimi. "I also want to say thank you to my team, Paris Saint-German, and my country of Morocco,” he concluded after receiving the award.

It was a touching moment, and one of shared love and care by Hakimi to bring his mother with him to one of the most important places and moments in his career to date.

Aged just 24 years old, Hakimi keeps taking huge steps toward building the brightest resume of all time among Arab athletes, let alone soccer players hailing from the region.

Morocco players in Qatar were often seen celebrating their victories with their mothers, as most of them were invited to the tournament by the Moroccan federation of football to spend time with their sons and support them throughout the World Cup.

It became a story and everybody around the World found it touching and extraordinarily great.

Last Thursday, Hakimi was part of the PSG squad that faced a Saudi Arabia All-Star XI at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, ultimately winning the Riyadh Season Cup after helping Paris Saint-Germain win that game 5-4 over the Cristiano Ronaldo-led all-star team.

Hakimi is expected to be available for PSG next week as they'll take on Pays de Cassel next Monday as part of the French Cup Round of 32 matchups.