NFF asks CAF not to penalize Edo Queens for referee’s mistake

The Nigeria Football Federation has appealed to the Confederation of African Football over its decision to cancel Edo Queens’ win against Ghanaian team, Ampem Darkoa Ladies, in the WAFU-B final. The appeal was submitted on Tuesday and disputes CAF’s ruling to restart the match from extra time.

Edo Queens had celebrated their 4-1 win in the penalty shoot-out after the match on September 5 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, ended 2-2 after regular time. They were named WAFU-B champions and secured a spot in the CAF Women’s Champions League after this victory.

But Ampem Darkoa protested the result. CAF decided on Sunday that the game should have gone to two periods of extra time before penalties, following Article 72.4 of the competition rules.

The NFF argued in its appeal that Edo Queens should not face consequences for a mistake made by the match officials. They pointed out that the players did not ask for the match to go straight to penalties.

According to the federation, Edo Queens just followed the referee’s orders and took part in the shoot-out in good faith. They added that there were no findings of misconduct or bad faith against the Nigerian side.

The NFF continued its argument, explaining that there is a big difference between benefiting from a referee’s mistake and causing that mistake. They stated, “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.”

They emphasized that it is hard to justify a solution that takes away the results of the penalty shoot-out from Edo Queens when the team was not at fault for what happened.

The federation also questioned CAF’s power to cancel the completed shoot-out and restart the match from extra time, especially since neither team caused the irregularity.

Furthermore, they stated that any action taken by CAF needs to be clearly based on the rules and should match the issue at hand. The NFF urged the CAF Appeals Committee to reverse the ruling and confirm Edo Queens’ 4-1 win in the shoot-out. They insisted that the result of the match should stand for a team that followed the officials’ instructions.