The Nigeria Football Federation has appealed the decision of the Confederation of African Football to annul Edo Queens’ victory over Ghanaian champions, Ampem Darkoa Ladies, in the WAFU-B final and order the match to resume from extra time.
The appeal, filed on Tuesday on behalf of Edo Queens, challenges CAF’s decision to set aside the Nigerian side’s 4-1 penalty shoot-out victory after the September 5 final in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, ended 2-2 after regulation time.
Edo Queens had been declared WAFU-B champions and awarded the zone’s ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League after winning the shoot-out.
However, following a protest by Ampem Darkoa, CAF ruled on Sunday that the match should have proceeded to two periods of extra time before penalties, in line with Article 72.4 of the competition regulations.
The NFF, in its appeal, argued that Edo Queens should not be punished for an error committed by the match officials, stressing that the players neither requested nor caused the decision to proceed directly to penalties.
According to the federation, Edo Queens merely obeyed the referee’s instruction and participated in the shoot-out in good faith, adding that there was no finding of misconduct, manipulation or bad faith against the Nigerian champions.
The NFF further argued that there was a fundamental difference between benefiting from an official’s error and causing or procuring the error.
“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.
“There is an important distinction between benefiting from an official’s error and causing or procuring the error.
“It is therefore difficult to justify a remedy which effectively removes the sporting consequence of the penalty shoot-out from Edo Queens where the club was not responsible for the circumstances which produced it,” the NFF argued.
It therefore questioned CAF’s authority to annul the completed shoot-out and order the match to resume from extra time where neither of the participating teams was responsible for the irregularity.
The federation also contended that any remedy imposed by CAF must have a clear regulatory basis and be proportionate to the established irregularity.
It consequently urged the CAF Appeals Committee to overturn the ruling and uphold Edo Queens’ 4-1 penalty-shoot-out victory, insisting that the sporting outcome of the match should not be taken away from a team that complied with the match officials’ instructions.
Credit: punchng.com
