The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has challenged the Confederation of African Football (CAF) over the reversal of Edo Queens’ WAFU-B final victory, asking the continental body to restore the result originally decided on the pitch.
The appeal, filed on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, follows CAF’s decision to annul Edo Queens’ 4-1 penalty shootout victory over Ghana’s Ampem Darkoa Ladies and order the final to resume from extra time.
The September 5 final in Ouagadougou ended 2-2 after regulation time before the referee directed both teams to a penalty shootout. Edo Queens won 4-1 and were declared WAFU-B champions, earning the zone’s qualification ticket for the CAF Women’s Champions League.
Ampem Darkoa subsequently protested the result, arguing that the competition regulations required 30 minutes of extra time before penalties in the event of a draw.
CAF upheld the protest, ruling that the penalty shootout could not stand because the prescribed extra time had not been played. It consequently ordered the final to resume from the 2-2 scoreline, with a penalty shootout to follow if necessary.
The NFF, however, is challenging the decision, arguing that Edo Queens did not choose to bypass extra time but acted on the instructions of the appointed match officials.
“Edo Queens neither elected nor requested that extra time be dispensed with,” the federation argued.
The NFF further maintained that the team’s compliance with the match officials’ direction should not be treated as responsibility for the procedural 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,” the federation stated.
The Nigerian federation’s appeal focuses on the circumstances surrounding the disputed procedure and whether Edo Queens should lose a result achieved after following the match officials’ instructions.
The NFF is asking CAF’s Appeals Committee to identify the specific legal basis for cancelling the shootout and reopening the final, particularly where it argues that neither participating club was responsible for the failure to play extra time.
CAF’s position remains that the competition regulations required extra time before penalties and that the prescribed procedure was not followed.
The NFF is therefore seeking restoration of Edo Queens’ original victory, arguing that the club should not lose the sporting benefit of a result reached after complying with the match officials’ direction.
The outcome of the appeal will determine the WAFU-B representative for the CAF Women’s Champions League, adding significance to the dispute for Nigerian women’s football.
For Edo Queens, the case has moved beyond the penalty shootout to a question of whether a result achieved on the pitch can be overturned because the prescribed procedure was not followed during the final.