By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
The coup d’etat in the neighbouring Niger Republic has claimed its first casualty as Association Sport (AS) Garde National football, Niger has pulled out of the 2023 West Africa Football Union B (WAFU-B) Qualifiers for this year’s CAF Women’s Champions League which will start at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium Benin City, Edo state on Sunday.
This is even as the sudden withdrawal
occasioned AS Garde National following the political crisis in their country has forced the organisers to thinker with the earlier fixtures of the competition which have now been reshuffled following a fresh draw at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin on Friday.
The representatives of the remaining six teams from Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, and Cote d’Ivoire were on ground during the draws ceremony and are expected to participate in this year’s qualifiers.
The new arrangement has seen the participating teams grouped into two distinct groups, each consisting of three teams. Only the top two teams of each group will qualify for the semi-finals. The winner of the championship will pick the sole ticket available to the zone to play in the eight-team CAF Women’s Champions League later in the year.
Nigeria’s women’s premier league champions, Delta Queens of Asaba are in Group A alongside USFA of Burkina Faso and Sam Nelly FC of Benin Republic while Group B has the trio of Ampem Darkoa of Ghana, Atletico of Cote D’Ivoire, and Friends of the World FC of Togo.
Speaking to sports journalists shortly after the draw on Friday in Benin City, the WAFU B Director of Competition, Bailley Sergei, said that the new draw was aimed at meeting CAF requirements of three teams in a group.
He disclosed that draws for the qualifiers were earlier conducted in Morocco before the withdrawal of the Nigerien side. READ ALSO:
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Meanwhile, Nigeria’s representatives (Delta Queens) have been paired against USFA of Burkina in the opening match on Sunday with kick- off time is 3:00 pm local time while Ampem versus Amis Du Monde match takes center stage at 6:00 pm at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium same day.
The West African soccer fiesta billed for Benin City from August 20 to September 2, 2023.
