The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appealed a Confederation of African Football (CAF) ruling that annulled Edo Queens’ victory over Ghanaian champions Ampem Darkoa Ladies in the WAFU-B final.
Edo Queens had won the September 5 final in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 4-1 on penalties after the encounter ended 2-2 in regulation time, earning the WAFU-B title and qualification for the CAF Women’s Champions League.
However, following a protest by Ampem Darkoa, CAF ruled that the match should have gone into extra time before the penalty shoot-out, in accordance with Article 72.4 of the competition regulations.
In its appeal filed on Tuesday, the NFF argued that Edo Queens should not be punished for an error by the match officials.
The federation maintained that the Nigerian champions neither caused nor requested the decision to proceed directly to penalties but simply followed the referee’s instructions in good faith.
The NFF also stressed that there was no allegation of misconduct, manipulation or bad faith against Edo Queens.
It urged the CAF Appeals Committee to overturn the ruling, uphold the penalty-shootout victory and preserve the sporting outcome of the match, insisting that the players should not bear responsibility for an officiating error.
