NFF appeals CAF ruling to uphold Edo Queens’ WAFU-B final victory

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appealed against a CAF decision which ordered the WAFU-B final between Edo Queens and Ampem Darkoa Ladies to resume because the required period of extra time was not played before the penalty shoot-out.

CAF ruled that the match should restart from the point at which the extra time should have begun. The NFF has rejected that decision, arguing that Edo Queens should not be punished for an administrative mistake made by the match officials.

In its appeal, the federation said the Nigerian champions neither asked for the match to go straight to penalties nor contributed to that decision. Instead, the club followed the referee’s instructions after the final whistle.

“The Committee therefore acted unfairly by holding Edo Queens responsible for a referee’s administrative error,” the NFF stated.

It added that there had been no finding of misconduct, manipulation, bad faith or breach of regulations against Edo Queens.

The federation said a distinction had to be made between correcting an irregularity and making a participant bear the consequences of an error for which it was not responsible. Any action taken to remedy the situation, it argued, must be supported by a clear regulatory basis and remain proportionate.

“Edo Queens did not misrepresent the Regulations to the referee or otherwise induce the referee to depart from Article 72.4. Rather, once the referee directed the teams to proceed to penalties, Edo Queens complied,” the NFF submitted.

The NFF also rejected the argument that Edo Queens’ success in the shoot-out automatically made the club responsible for the events that preceded it.

“There is an important distinction between benefiting from an official’s error and causing or procuring the error,” the federation said.

It further questioned whether the organising committee had the authority to cancel the shoot-out and require the final to resume 30 minutes later.

The NFF noted that the referee had been found to have acted in good faith and that neither Edo Queens nor Ampem Darkoa Ladies had been responsible for the failure to play extra time.

The federation is asking for the ruling to be reviewed in full and maintains that Edo Queens’ victory in the final should remain valid.

The appeal will determine whether the Nigerian side keeps the WAFU-B title or must return to complete the unfinished final against Ampem Darkoa Ladies.