‘There is more work to be done’ – Aisha Falode on Delta Queens Champions League miss

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

An Executive member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Aisha Falode opined that there is still more work to be done in the Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) to avoid a repeat of not having a team at the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League.

For the first time in the country’s history, there won’t be a Nigerian team at the CAF Women’s Champions League in Ivory Coast.

Nigerian Champions, Delta Queens faltered to Ampem Darkoa of Ghana in the final of the 2023 West Africa Zone B (WAFU-B) Women’s Champions League.

“It is not a good story. That’s to tell you that football is no longer predictable. If you do not put in the work, you can’t get the result,” Falode told Kennis FM.

“Sometimes you even put in the work and the result doesn’t go your way. We saw that happen in Australia with the Super Falcons qualifying from a tough group that has Canada, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. England escaped us by the whiskers.

“It shows that there is more work to be done. I am hoping that next season, the managers of the league now will know that we have a Champions League and for the first time there is prize money in Dollars attached to it.”

Rivers Angels qualified for the maiden edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League in 2021 after their second-place finish at the WAFU-B Women’s Champions League Qualifiers and couldn’t go beyond the group stage in Egypt as eventual winners, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies of South Africa and ASFAR FC of Morocco progressed at the team’s expense.

“We qualified for the first one but didn’t make an impression because the club did not do their due diligence,” she continued.

“They arrived at the venue of the tournament on the eve of their first game. That kind of derailed their purpose and target for the competition.”

Bayelsa Queens redeemed Nigeria’s image after winning the WAFU-B title and reached won bronze medal at the 2022 CAF Women’s Champions League in Morocco.

“The second edition, they prepared very well but as it is you don’t go to North Africa and not expect everything for football to thrive in terms of the crowd and supporters,” she added.

“This time we are not there at all. It is a sad story but it is not a story that is not redeemable. I am sure that at the next edition, we will qualify and show up strong.”

The journey towards the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League will begin on November 15, 2023, when the 2023/2024 NWFL Premiership season gets underway.