Officials admit Nigeria, Ghana match ended 3-3

A few weeks after referees at the WAFU B CAF Women’s Champions League set the continent on fire with their misinterpretation of the rules, another set of referees had to reverse themselves in Kaduna at the weekend after erroneously leading Nigeria and Ghana’s beach soccer teams to a penalty shoot out after the first leg of the their CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game.

On September 5, 2026, a WAFU B CAF Women’s Champions League qualifying final in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, between Edo Queens of Nigeria and Ampen Darkoa Ladies of Ghana, ended in a 2–2 draw after regulation time. But instead of ordering the teams to play an additional 30 minutes to decide the winner, the referees went straight to penalties, which Edo Queens won 4-1.

Irked by the outcome, the Ghana Football Association on behalf of Ampem Darkoa Ladies protested to CAF, which upheld their protest. Not satisfied by CAF’s decision on a game that was officially ended by the referees, Edo Queens have since petitioned CAF to uphold their victory, saying that it was not their fault that the referees misinterpreted the rules.

On Saturday in Kaduna, the same scenario played out again, but Moroccan referee Driss Lamghaidar and his officiating team admitted their error in allowing for extra time and penalties in the match between Nigeria and Ghana in Kaduna. They upheld the earlier 3-3 draw recorded by the teams, with the decisive leg to hold in Ghana.

Dignitaries and spectators in the stands were befuddled when Lamghaidar and his assistants ordered for extra time, and later on penalties, in the first leg encounter that had ended 3-3 in regulation time.

At a meeting on Saturday night, Lamghaidar admitted he had erred in taking the game to extra time and subsequently penalties, as it was only a first-leg encounter, with the second leg and decider to come on October 18 in Keta, Ghana.
This means the fixture is still delicately-poised and both teams now have to all to play for in the return.

Isa Hamza Manga netted a hat-trick for Nigeria, while Mawuli Sosu scored twice and Wise Nyamadi once for the Black Sharks.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had swung into action immediately after the match to demand an explanation for the extra time and penalties, which is an anomaly for a two-match fixture in which only the first leg had been played.

The Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko; NFF’s Acting General Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme; Kaduna State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Ben Kure; Special Assistants to the NSC Chairman, Musa Amadu and Clement Nwankpa; NFF’s Acting Deputy General Secretary, Dr Ademola Olajire, and Personal Assistant to the NSC Chairman, Alhaji Ahmad Muazu, were among top officials of the NSC, the Kaduna State Government and the NFF who watched the match at the Murtala Muhammed Square Beach Soccer Pitch.