By Ozioruva Aliu
THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has called on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to reverse its decision cancelling the recent WAFU-B victory of Edo Queens saying that the Nigerian champions cannot be made to bear the consequences of an error committed by match officials.
In an appeal to
Edo Queens
CAF, the NFF contended that Edo Queens neither caused nor contributed to the failure to play extra time in the September 5 final against Ghana’s Ampem Darkoa Ladies in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The final ended 2-2 after 90 minutes before the referee directed both teams to a penalty shoot-out, which Edo Queens won 4-1 to claim the title and the zone’s ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League.
CAF subsequently annulled the result after upholding Ampem Darkoa’s protest that the regulations required two 15-minute periods of extra time before penalties.
But the NFF, in its appeal dated September 28 2026 and signed by Deputy General Secretary of the NFF, Dr. Emmanuel Edem Ikpeme, maintained that the players had no authority to determine whether extra time should be played, insisting that such responsibility rested squarely with the match officials.
The federation argued that Edo Queens did not request the omission of extra time, refuse to play it or mislead the referee on the competition regulations.
Rather, it said, the Nigerian side simply complied with the official’s instruction and participated in the penalty shoot-out in good faith.
The NFF further challenged the decision to erase the outcome of the shoot-out, arguing that there was no finding of misconduct, manipulation or bad faith against Edo Queens to justify removing the sporting consequence of the match.
According to the federation, benefiting from an official’s mistake is not the same as causing or procuring the mistake, stressing that the distinction is critical in determining a fair remedy.
The NFF has therefore asked CAF’s Appeals Committee to overturn the ruling and restore Edo Queens’ victory, arguing that responsibility for an officiating or administrative error should not be transferred to an innocent participant.
