2023 World Cup: Criticisms Trail Pairing Of Nigeria, Ghana, In Qualification Series |The Source

By Akinwale Kasali

The Super Falcons of Nigeria and the Black Queens of Ghana are the Super football powerhouse in African Women Football.

Both teams have consistently qualified for the FIFA Female World Cup tournament as the leading African teams.

Sadly, one of these football powerhouses will not be at the 2023 FIFA Women World Cup to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand following the pairing of the two teams to square up against each other in the first round of the Confederation of African Football, CAF, Qualifiers for the mundial next month.

Criticisms have, however, trailed the draws made at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, with soccer Stars, Ex-Internationals, Football analysts and enthusiasts are slamming CAF for such act.

Reacting, South African star and CAF’s Women Footballer of  The Year  2018, Thembi Kgatlana  berated the CAF for pairing Nigeria against Ghana in the first round of qualifiers for the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations.

The 2022 AWCON serves as qualifiers for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The Nine-time Champions, Super Falcons has an age-long rivalry with their West African neighbours, Ghana, meaning that it will be a titanic battle.

Both legs will be held between June 7 and 15, with Falcons hosting the first leg, before travelling to Ghana for the reverse fixture.

Winners of the tie face the winners between Niger and Ivory Coast in another round of qualifiers between October 19 and 28.

The winner between Nigeria and Ghana will face emerging force Ivory Coast, which is highly favoured to beat Niger.

Kgatlana is, however, infuriated with this development, as one of the two giants in African Football will not make it to the AWCON and the Women’s World Cup.

“The draw was coming alright until they announced that Ghana will play Nigeria,” Banyana Banyana striker Kgatlana tweeted.

Stella Mbachu, ex-International, also questioned the criteria used by CAF to arrive at the draw.

“CAF did not do it well, they should have done it so that the two teams will have the chance of being at the AWCON, to make the competition more interesting. Putting them with Nigeria now, one of them must drop.

“What this means is that at the AWCON, we will have weaker teams competing,” Mbachu said.

Football analysts and renowned Sports  Journalist, Colin Udoh, took a dig at CAF, saying the football body don’t value Women’s Football.

In a tweet, Udoh wrote; “Everyone involved in this at CAF should be ashamed of themselves, to pit two of the historically and current strongest teams in Africa against each other in the first round of qualifying, does a huge and disgraceful disservice to the African women’s game.”

“If ever proof was needed that CAF does not rate the women’s game, this right here, is it.Out of a sense of evil, I hope Ghana and Nigeria get knocked out, followed by Cameroon and let CAF have its AWCON.

“The AWCON needs eyeballs. Games like those involving the likes of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa playing against each other is what draws those eyeballs. But no, self sabotage must be an intrinsic part of the CAF DNA,” Udoh added on Twitter.

Nigeria – who are the highest ranked African country in the world – have won the AWCON a record nine times and have been at every Women’s World Cup since inception in 1991, while Ghana have been to the Women’s World Cup three times – 1999, 2003 and 2007.

The Black Queens are the fourth most successful country at the AWCON, emerging runners-up three times and third another three times.

In the same vein, Femi Olusesi, a football enthusiast says that CAF has done a great disservice to itself.

“We are just mere jokers in Africa. How can you pair the two best team in the continent together at such stage. It is not done anywhere. Who will hoist the continent’s flag at the Showpiece on 2023.

“Even with the powerhouses, Africa have been a shadow of itself, now Fringe and unexposed and inexperience teams will represent African and the continent will be disgraced is what pleases CAF.

“In Europe, they will never do such. We still need a long way to go. This is purely disservice to ourselves”, Olusesi concluded.