★ Africa Women's Football thread - 'We Are Champions'

North-west Africa

Algeria has one of the oldest histories in women's football, with games at the Algiers Expo 1921, and leagues organized both during French colonialism and after independence. Alongside a bronze medal in the African Games and 5 qualifications to the continental championship (including in 2018), the national women's team can be proud of its record, but could never quite stand with the heavyweights.
The women's club championship will also be worth looking into - it goes back to 1998, the late days of the 1990s civil war.
The magazine Botola dedicated two editions to women's soccer, online here: https://www.aipsmedia.com/index.html?page=artdetail&oldart=22484

Mauritania is comparatively new in the women's game, but Yaaba Ibrahima in a 2016 film recalled playing in 1984. The first national federation champions were FC El Mina in 2017 and 2018, and Oumou Kane talked about the fourth season in 2020:
https://www.kick442.com/against-all-odds-mauritania-womens-league-comes-alive/ (Archive)

​

 

​

Nigeria 2001: A historic event as the league signed its first foreign players. That was in the tenth season, having begun in 1992. A closer look at that year's triumphs and troubles was written by Eniwoke Ibagere for BBC Sport.

To the north, the first known women's tournament in Niger was in Niamey in 2001, described by Alio Amadou (French & English below)

Niger - Football féminin: l'amour du ballon rond, 2018
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb63NVsTRUc


Gambia played in its first West African cup in 2020, after competing at youth level. Exciting times for the team's captain, midfielder Penda Bah.

Tragedy struck Gambian women's football in 2016, when junior goalkeeper Fatim Jawara died in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean while heading to Italy, one of thousands of deaths that year:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...n-mediterranean-wanted-to-play-for-major-club


Darfur United: Refugees from the war-torn Sudanese region and former sultanate formed a women's soccer team in Chad, after men's sides competed in CONIFA championships. The team was introduced in 2018: https://darfurunited.com/2018/11/introducing-the-darfur-united-womens-team/

Malawi: As promised, it's the Chawingas post

And this is now, 2020, both sisters are playing in China:

The sisters putting Malawi women's football on the map
https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/53779887

Temwa has often followed Tabitha's path, but the result of their first game at opposing Chinese clubs may surprise you. Also playing in the league is Zambia's Barbra Banda.

Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga of Malawi (Goal.com)​

 

★ More info on the Champions League - and reaction from South African title-winning goalie Andile Dlamini:

Caf reveals women’s champions league format
panafricanfootball.com/2020/09/12/caf-womens-champions-league (Archive)

One national champion club qualifies from every zone, which should be exciting. Two teams qualify from West Africa. The 'wild card' entry would generally be a second club from the zone of the previous continental champion.

(pd)​

 

In west Africa:

Togo made some great steps forward that came to a sudden halt with the Covid pandemic. The Cécame-Togo cup in 2014/15 led to the federation's first league (2016/17), and the national team was revived after a decade, with its first female coach, Kaï Tomety, in 2018. It paid off, the following year:

Togo's star women's player hit the 1st goal, and Konou Yawa added the 2nd in the 2019 victory (see highlights / match report). Other promising news in Togo that year: an idea for an international women's academy, and the seniors' re-entry to the Cup of Nations qualifiers, cruelly stopped by the pandemic.

That star striker, "Mafille" Woedikou Apeafa, has been playing in France, at ESTC Poitiers and then at Auxerre in 2020.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr8oGhqB2Vc


In neighbouring Benin, international midfielder Noëlle Amouzoun has won high praise there and likewise signed for a French club, Angers. The national team played friendlies in 2019, their first games in over a decade. Women's clubs have played for years, but in 2020 the FBF said it would get the national championship better organized.

​

 

​

Yeah, but it'll be weird - a Champions League with actual champions in it...

More from Africa's western coast:

Sierra Leone has announced equal pay for the women's and men's national teams, after the country hosted the WAFU tournament early in 2020. Those games are included retroactively in the deal arranged by the SLFA and the sports ministry. https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/54194133

Coach Victoria Conteh has had a great year, managing the men's club East End Tigers into a title-challenging position in the Premier League before the pandemic suspended the season. In August 2020 she added the job of national women's U20s coach.

Liberia returned to international women's football after 6 years in 2019, hosting Guinea in a 3-3 draw. That was accompanied by some good results in 2020 for the youth teams with hat-tricks by Agatha Nimene and Blessing Kieh, while the seniors won an impressive 3rd place in WAFU zone A. No equal pay yet, but they got a win bonus from the First Lady of Liberia, Clar Marie Weah, whose husband George was so good at football, they made him the president.

​

 

​

The Senegal national team played for years with little success until their 2020 WAFU win – could it be a turning point?

The women's championship ceased in 2007 and was revived after a year by an activist organisation, Ladies' Turn. Over the years, Dakar club Sirènes de Grand Yoff have been the winningest champions (and often cup-winners as well), but lost their title twice to team LAF.

​

The soccer scene in Senegal was profiled in a 2013 Arte documentary, and a 2016 Chinese news report:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ebVeXEzqow

 

Six teams would have played the decisive U17 Women's World Cup qualifiers on Friday, but a month ago the games were postponed by CAF, who clearly had some inside info on the now cancelled tournament.

Among others, it's sad for Uganda and Cameroon, whose U17s were ready for a playoff. The Ugandan team with top player Juliet Nalukenge was in training for the game, and they made the news for a couple of other reasons - firstly, the head coach Ayub Khalifa recovered from Covid-19 prior to the camp. Then the squad was visited by music star and social campaigner Sheebah Karungi, who gifted them 1,500 packs of sanitary pads.
In the other nations, Ghana's youth teams were also in training, which ended after the postponement was known.

 

​

⬤ Some stories from early 2021 & late 2020:

Team of the year: The football statistical society IFFHS had its work cut out in 2020, or did the lack of football make their job easier?... anyway, this was their choice of best women's XI from Africa: https://web.archive.org/web/20201213162056if_/https://www.iffhs.de/posts/833

Namibia to the USA and Israel: International player Annouscka Kordom spent 4 seasons studying and playing at Corban University, Oregon; a longer interview is here. She topped that by signing professionally for Hapoel Be'er Sheva in Oct 2020. (Archive)

Cameroon League comeback: The teams kicked off again in November, now with a second division and a 2-year sponsorship from a famous Irish beer company (I'll let you guess which one). The previous title holders Louves Minproff had been declared champions of 2019/20, and sit 2nd so far in 2020/21's Guinness Super League.
Top national ref Carine Atezambong Fomo has no fear of missing out, officiating in the men's league, and she's one of 9 nominees in CAF for the next Women's World Cup.

"Nigeria catches talents old": Super Falcons defender Onome Ebi said the champion country's youth system could do better.
Having playing in five Women's World Cups, she talked about the football development body that she is part of, Common Goal, which works with young people in poverty - (DW.com / Archive)

 

​

★ Another piece in the puzzle:

- "COSAFA unveils Women’s Champions League format and teams" (Herald.co.zw / Archive)

​

 

Thanks for the news, @Nacional Tijuana! Yes, it started in 2019 in South Africa as the SAFA National Women's League - the champions of the 2019/20 season were Mamelodi Sundowns. https://www.safa.net/2020/06/23/mam...snwl-title-as-inaugural-season-is-called-off/

Funding was a problem, so it's good that the federation has got a second big sponsor in. JVW FC were promoted by winning the 2019 Sasol League. Yes, most of the new 1st division clubs were in the Sasol League before. (TUT won it in 2018)

Two South African internationals are playing in Scotland at the moment - Janine van Wyk is the most famous, but her teammate Ode Fulutudilu (born in DR Congo) has had the most amazing life.
"South Africa striker on being a refugee, God & Glasgow City" - (BBC Sport)

 

​

★ CAF Women's Champions League, more news:

Egypt will host the finals event in 2021. That means the Egyptian champion club will also qualify for it, against seven other teams. In Egypt's fellow member of the Union of North African Football (UNAF), Morocco's federation said that it had won the tournament rights, but it was some kind of error. But Morocco will host the Cup of Nations in 2022.
"Egypt win rights to host maiden Caf Women's Champions League" - (SportsNewsAfrica)

 

​

★ WAFU-B will qualify two clubs to this year's Champions League - that zone B includes Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo. ("Why Caf handed WAFU B two slots" - Goal.com)

Ghana's 2019 champs Hasaacas Ladies will be the national representatives at the WAFU-B club tournament in July.

The Ghana Women's Premier League is about to complete its 2020/21 season - Hasaacas leads the southern division, while the former title holders Ampem Darkoa are on top in the north, each with a record of W10, D3, L0. The 16-club championship is going to increase to 18 teams next season, and regional U17 leagues will also be added. Some WPL games are on the GFA's channels on Youtube/Facebook.

 

​

Nigeria made a winning re-start under new coach Randy Waldrum, and the Super Falcons lifted the Turkish Women's Cup 2021. But the big story was before the tournament, the omission of Desire Oparanozie, because of her previous conflict with the NFF about pay at the World Cup:

- "Desire Oparanozie slams NFF over her exclusion from Super Falcons squad to play Turkish Women’s Cup" - (Linda Ikeji)
- "Ex-captain Desire Oparanozie 'still has Nigeria future'" - (BBC Sport)

 

The women's league in Nigeria returned for 2020/21 in December - the Premier League is now renamed the NWFL Premiership. It did complete the season in April, but there had been a brief referees' strike over allowances.

Reigning champs Rivers Angels had an uphill struggle to retain this honour, and the regular season premiers were Bayelsa Queens (31pts) ahead of Delta Queens (29pts) and Rivers (28pts). But in the championship playoff group, the 'Super Six', Rivers Angels turned things around, staying undefeated, and they sealed the Nigerian women's title in the last game:

Sunshine Queens v Rivers Angels
youtube.com/watch?v=XzqEXWcrT4Y&t=1m42s

- Tournament report: Goal.com (Archive)

​

 

​

An outsider in the heavyweight region of WAFU-B, Burkina Faso will have its best team there in the Champions League qualifiers. Winning 6 titles in 7 seasons including their recent success, the army club Colombes USFA are headed by Ivorian goalscorer Stéphanie Bogou, and coached by ex-international men's player Zakaria Zéba:
- "Championne du Burkina, l’USFA vise la Ligue des Champions féminine de la CAF" / "Burkinabè champion, USFA aims for CAF Women's Champions League"

 

​

So, in Zambia's Olympic year:

The Zambia preparations have had huge problems, unfortunately - they had to cancel friendlies with Kenya and Mozambique, and in Great Britain this week. Zambia's squad, Shepolopolo, have had monthly training camps, and as Grace Chanda says they're trying to "stay focused". Their last intercontinental game was a 2-1 win in Chile. The captain Barbra Banda was top-scorer in China, and will now oppose her Shanghai teammate Zhang Xin. Before the Tokyo games the team was honoured by the Japanese embassy.

These were their final qualifying matches, just before the global lockdown in 2020:

 

For Zambian clubs, 2021 is the first women's 'Super League', a year after the national playoffs crowned the last champions, Green Buffaloes. They have the best win-loss record now, but had fixtures postponed to allow national players to attend training camp.

News elsewhere:

West Africa:
★ Champions League: Ivory Coast will host the WAFU-B qualifiers with 6 teams.
Mali: The title goes to AS Mandé with a close victory over Super Lionnes. In a comeback season played with the same system and health protocol as the men's, Mandé took the 2-leg final (2-1 on aggregate) with goals by Fatoumata Diarra and Kiété Ouattara.
Togo: The founder of the champion club Amis du Monde has died, RIP Komla Dzoboku Gblokpo. He set up the pioneering club who won the 2000 title and are still group leaders in the 2021 season.
Gambia: The pandemic was a setback, but Women's Division One is back. Red Scorpions hold the title but lost 3-1 to Gambia Police Force who are unbeaten.
The women's football coordinator is the inspiring Sainey Sissohore Mboge:
- "Gamechanger in Women's Football" -(My-Gambia.com)

​

 

​

East Africa news:
★ Champion clubs will meet in CL qualifying in Kenya - reportedly 11 nations will compete.
Sudan: In its 2nd season, the national league began on 26 December tho I'm unsure who won. Yahya Hassan writes about 2 star players: Orjuan Essam (Al Tahadi FC) and Elham Beltone (Al Difaa).
South Sudan played a full national season for the first time - champions are Yei Join Stars FC. https://www.kurrasports.com/2021/06/04/yei-join-stars-fc-wins-2021-south-sudan-womens-league-title/ (Archive)
Kenya: In an opinion piece, Cellestine Olilo praises the international tournaments but mainly the smaller ones: "we identified FA presidents who are serious about growing the women's game, such as the Moroccan and South Sudanese FAs, and those that are simply bystanders".
Uganda: New champion in the WSL, Lady Doves, went the hard route by beating the 4-time winners Kawempe Muslim Women (1-0 in the semi-final). and the blue Doves de-throned the champions UCU Lady Cardinals 2-1 in the final (video/match report).
Rwanda women's league returns on 31 July 2021, after a year away. AS Kigali were champions 10 times in a row - until 2019, when Kigali lost the title to... Scandinavia (well, they are very good at women's football).

This is not Rwanda​

 

Great news as Malawi started its new competition. From 24 clubs, 9 will qualify for the national championship. The regional champions last time were DD Sunshine, Moyale and Blantyre Zero - the latter are overseen by former national boss and striker, Maggie Chombo.

“As a coach for Blantyre Zero, I look forward to the kickoff of the league as it will afford the national team a wide pool of talent to select from,” she said. ...
Teams such as DD Sunshine have produced top players such as Tabitha Chawinga and her sister Temwa. The sisters play for Wuhan FC in China.
- https://www.cafonline.com/news-cent...al-national-women-s-league-kicks-off-saturday

 

Champions League:
★ It's draw time for two regional confederations today (7 July), and WAFU-B has already set its schedule, kicking off 17 July. In that west African zone, two clubs will qualify for Cairo, but they must win the semi-finals first, as outlined on 442gh.com.

​