NFF Appeals CAF Ruling to Replay Edo Queens, Ampem Darkoa Final
The Nigeria Football Federation has appealed CAF’s decision to overturn Edo Queens’ penalty shoot-out victory over Ghanaian champions Ampem Darkoa Ladies in the WAFU-B final, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.
The appeal was filed on Tuesday on behalf of Edo Queens after CAF ordered the September 5 final in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to resume from extra time.
The match had ended 2-2 after 90 minutes before Edo Queens defeated Ampem Darkoa 4-1 on penalties to claim the WAFU-B title and secure the zone’s ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League.
Ampem Darkoa subsequently protested the decision to proceed directly to a penalty shoot-out without extra time.
CAF ruled on Sunday that the match should have gone through two periods of extra time before penalties, citing Article 72.4 of the competition regulations.
The NFF has challenged that decision, arguing that Edo Queens should not be held responsible for an error made by the match officials.
According to the federation, the Nigerian players neither requested nor influenced the decision to proceed directly to penalties but simply followed the referee’s instructions and participated in the shoot-out in good faith.
The NFF also stressed that CAF had not established any misconduct, manipulation, or bad faith on the part of Edo Queens.
In its appeal, the federation argued that there is a distinction between a team benefiting from an officiating error and being responsible for causing or deliberately obtaining such an error.
“The fact that Edo Queens ultimately won the shoot-out cannot retrospectively convert its compliance with the referee’s instruction into responsibility for the regulatory breach.
“There is an important distinction between benefiting from an official’s error and causing or procuring the error.
“It is therefore difficult to justify a remedy which effectively removes the sporting consequence of the penalty shoot-out from Edo Queens, where the club was not responsible for the circumstances that produced it,” the NFF argued.
The federation further questioned CAF’s authority to annul an already completed penalty shoot-out and order the match to resume from extra time when neither participating team was responsible for the procedural irregularity.
The NFF also argued that any remedy imposed by CAF should have a clear basis in the competition regulations and be proportionate to the nature of the irregularity established.
The federation has therefore asked the CAF Appeals Committee to overturn the ruling and restore Edo Queens’ 4-1 penalty shoot-out victory.
A decision on the appeal will determine whether Edo Queens retain the WAFU-B title and the accompanying qualification place for the CAF Women’s Champions League.
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