FOOTBALL
Related News
Opinion: Is women’s football in Africa treading a dangerous path?
.jpg)
Burundi Women’s National Team celebrate their maiden qualification for the Women’s AFCON. (Photo by CAF Women/Instagram)
ACCRA, April 8, 2022 - In my decade of covering domestic and international women’s football competitions in Africa, I have seen huge improvements to women’s game on the African continent. It has been a joy to see the introduction of the CAF Women’s Champions League, and the expansion of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) from eight to twelve teams, with a record number of 44 out of 54 teams entering the 2022 Women's AFCON qualifiers. Despite this growth, my conscience will not allow me to sit aloof and not voice out some huge concerns.
The new qualifying format used for the 2022 WAFCON was problematic, because it denied us the opportunity to watch the best African women’s teams in the continental showpiece. A zonal system for qualification was adopted in 2019, which restricted teams to geographical regions in the Women's AFCON qualifiers. This means that only one or two teams from each of the six regional blocks could qualify for the AWCON. In terms of development in the Women’s game, there is a disparity, with West Africa and Central Africa having the top teams on the African continent except South Africa from COSAFA. The consequence of this format resulted in six of the top ten women’s national teams missing out on the Women's AFCON. For example, WAFU Zone B, which has most of Africa’s highest ranked women’s national teams including Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast AWCON. As a result of the format, Ghana and Ivory Coast, two key teams that have been an integral part of the AWCON in past editions, will miss out on the 2022 edition. Only six teams have ever represented Africa at the World Cup: Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire are part of this elite group. The WAFCON is supposed to be the tournament where Africa’s top women’s football teams feature unfortunately this isn’t the case this time around.
To double the jeopardy, the 2022 WAFCON doubles as a 2023 Women’s World Cup Qualifier. This means that some of the best teams in African women’s football will not even have a chance of competing to qualify for the World Cup. This is a travesty, since the quality of these teams will not be shown on a big stage which is supposed to sell Women’s football in Africa. Instead, weaker teams which would not have been sufficiently tested against tough opponents will qualify for the World cup, where their lack of experience will be inevitably exposed. Of the 12 teams making an appearance at the 2022 Women's AFCON, only five have appeared at the finals more than three times, not a good look when through pairings higher-ranked teams like Algeria and Mali miss out on the tournament due to this new system.
.jpeg)
Mamelodi Sundowns won the first edition of the CAF Women's Champions League (Photo by CAF Women/Instagram)
I also have serious concerns about the absence of prize money in the women’s club game. In November 2021, we witnessed the maiden edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League held in Egypt. Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa edged Hasaacas Ladies of Ghana 2-0 in the final. Before the start of the tournament, there was silence about the prize money for the competition. My checks inform me that no appearance fee or prize money has been given to any of the teams. Before and during the tournament when questions were posed on these issues it was addressed with evasiveness. I am reliably informed that the teams had their accommodation and feeding catered for but had to pay for the flight tickets. I find that quite unfortunate because we already know the financial constraints of most women’s teams and how they struggle to keep afloat, especially on the African continent. One would think CAF will encourage these teams by sponsoring them thoroughly to encourage the longevity of these competitions. Moreover, an appearance fee for their toil would have been fair, to say the least.
There has been a lot of promise and growth of the women’s game on the Africa continent. Nevertheless, so long as these types of issues persist, growth of the game will remain capped. It is my hope and prayer that we learn from these mistakes, so they do not repeat themselves in the nearby future. Long live Women’s football on the African continent.
The new qualifying format used for the 2022 WAFCON was problematic, because it denied us the opportunity to watch the best African women’s teams in the continental showpiece. A zonal system for qualification was adopted in 2019, which restricted teams to geographical regions in the Women's AFCON qualifiers. This means that only one or two teams from each of the six regional blocks could qualify for the AWCON. In terms of development in the Women’s game, there is a disparity, with West Africa and Central Africa having the top teams on the African continent except South Africa from COSAFA. The consequence of this format resulted in six of the top ten women’s national teams missing out on the Women's AFCON. For example, WAFU Zone B, which has most of Africa’s highest ranked women’s national teams including Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast AWCON. As a result of the format, Ghana and Ivory Coast, two key teams that have been an integral part of the AWCON in past editions, will miss out on the 2022 edition. Only six teams have ever represented Africa at the World Cup: Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire are part of this elite group. The WAFCON is supposed to be the tournament where Africa’s top women’s football teams feature unfortunately this isn’t the case this time around.
To double the jeopardy, the 2022 WAFCON doubles as a 2023 Women’s World Cup Qualifier. This means that some of the best teams in African women’s football will not even have a chance of competing to qualify for the World Cup. This is a travesty, since the quality of these teams will not be shown on a big stage which is supposed to sell Women’s football in Africa. Instead, weaker teams which would not have been sufficiently tested against tough opponents will qualify for the World cup, where their lack of experience will be inevitably exposed. Of the 12 teams making an appearance at the 2022 Women's AFCON, only five have appeared at the finals more than three times, not a good look when through pairings higher-ranked teams like Algeria and Mali miss out on the tournament due to this new system.
I also have serious concerns about the absence of prize money in the women’s club game. In November 2021, we witnessed the maiden edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League held in Egypt. Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa edged Hasaacas Ladies of Ghana 2-0 in the final. Before the start of the tournament, there was silence about the prize money for the competition. My checks inform me that no appearance fee or prize money has been given to any of the teams. Before and during the tournament when questions were posed on these issues it was addressed with evasiveness. I am reliably informed that the teams had their accommodation and feeding catered for but had to pay for the flight tickets. I find that quite unfortunate because we already know the financial constraints of most women’s teams and how they struggle to keep afloat, especially on the African continent. One would think CAF will encourage these teams by sponsoring them thoroughly to encourage the longevity of these competitions. Moreover, an appearance fee for their toil would have been fair, to say the least.
There has been a lot of promise and growth of the women’s game on the Africa continent. Nevertheless, so long as these types of issues persist, growth of the game will remain capped. It is my hope and prayer that we learn from these mistakes, so they do not repeat themselves in the nearby future. Long live Women’s football on the African continent.
News from the same category
Video gallery
Let's Talk to the IOC Presidential Candidates
Let's Talk to IOC Presidential Candidate Lord Sebastian Coe
