Nigeria’s bid to retain the WAFU-B women’s title and secure a place at the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League has entered a decisive legal phase, with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) formally appealing CAF’s decision to annul Edo Queens’ penalty-shootout victory over Ghana’s Ampem Darkoa Ladies.

The NFF filed the appeal on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, challenging CAF’s September 26 ruling that wiped out Edo Queens’ 4-1 shoot-out victory and ordered the final to resume from extra time.

The Nigerian champions had beaten Ampem Darkoa 4-1 on penalties after the September 5 final in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, ended 2-2 after 90 minutes.

CAF subsequently upheld the Ghanaian side’s protest, ruling that the regulations required two 15-minute periods of extra time before penalties.

he NFF’s legal argument is more narrowly focused: it does not simply dispute CAF’s finding that extra time was required, but questions whether annulling the completed shoot-out and reopening the final is the proper regulatory remedy where neither club caused the error.

CAF itself found that the failure to play extra time resulted from an erroneous administrative instruction and that neither Edo Queens nor Ampem Darkoa was responsible.

The referee was also found to have acted in good faith.

Edo Queens neither elected nor requested that extra time be dispensed with,” the NFF argued, maintaining that the players merely followed the match officials’ instruction to proceed to penalties.

The federation further contended that “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.”

The NFF is therefore asking CAF’s Appeals Committee to distinguish between establishing a regulatory irregularity and deciding who should bear its sporting consequences, arguing that the remedy must have a clear basis in the regulations and be proportionate to the breach.

CAF, for its part, maintained that Articles 13.1 and 72.4 made extra time mandatory and that the penalty shoot-out could only follow after the additional 30 minutes.

It consequently ordered the final to resume from 2-2, with a fresh shoot-out if the teams remain level after extra time.

The stakes are high for Nigerian women’s football. Edo Queens’ original victory had secured the WAFU-B title and the zone’s ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League, but CAF’s ruling has left the qualification place undecided until the final is completed under the new procedure.