With WAFCON 2026 on the horizon and Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade publicly criticising the NFF’s planning, Nigeria is set to host a three-day CAF workshop aimed at raising administrative standards for women’s football across West Africa.
The West African Football Union Zone B (WAFU-B), in collaboration with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), will stage a three-day women’s football administrators workshop in Abuja from April 26 to April 28, 2026. The workshop, hosted by the Nigeria Football Federation, will take place at the Exclusive Serene Hotel and Suites in the Wuye District of the Federal Capital Territory, and will bring together women’s football commissioners and heads of women’s football departments from all seven WAFU-B member nations.
The seven countries represented will be Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger Republic, Togo, and Benin Republic. NFF President and WAFU-B chief Ibrahim Gusau is expected to formally open proceedings. Also scheduled to attend are WAFU-B Executive Director Philippe Tchere and CAF Head of Women’s Football Meskerem Goshime, bringing continental-level leadership to a workshop designed to build administrative capacity in the zone. The workshop arrives at a moment when the FootballInNigeria.com.ng community is closely watching how Nigeria prepares for a critical year in women’s football. Fans wanting to back the Super Falcons ahead of WAFCON can use the Bet9ja promotion code for new accounts.
Context: Why This Workshop Matters Right Now
The timing of the Abuja workshop is pointed. Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade sparked national debate earlier this month when she publicly criticised the NFF over the team’s preparations for WAFCON 2026, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for July 26 to August 16 in Morocco. In a series of social media posts, Ajibade accused the federation of failing to formally communicate key details to players, including confirmed camp dates and preparatory fixtures, during an important international window. She was joined in her frustration by goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie and defender Ashleigh Plumptre.
The stakes attached to WAFCON 2026 are unusually high. The tournament is not only the continental championship but also a direct qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, with the four semi-finalists earning automatic berths and two additional spots going to intercontinental playoffs. For the ten-time African champions to miss the World Cup would represent a catastrophic administrative failure on the part of the NFF. A workshop focused on improving women’s football administration across the zone is a welcome intervention, though the test will be whether the gains reach the actual preparation of the Super Falcons before July. New Bet9ja users who want to follow WAFCON can find details at Bet9ja’s sign-up bonus page.
The CAF Model for Regional Development
The Abuja workshop is part of a broader CAF programme to raise administrative standards for women’s football across all six African zones. In March 2026, COSAFA and CAF held a similar workshop in Johannesburg under the theme “Empowering Our Game,” gathering administrators from southern African member associations for three days of leadership training and strategic planning. That event, along with the upcoming WAFU-B session, reflects CAF’s stated commitment to professionalising women’s football administration at the zonal level rather than relying solely on club or national federation capacity.
For Nigerian football specifically, the workshop comes as the NFF faces significant scrutiny from multiple directions. The Reform Our Football coalition has been demanding governance changes, former players including Godwin Okpara have called for the federation to open its ranks to former internationals, and the Super Falcons’ public frustration has added a women’s football dimension to the pressure on the administration. Whether the Abuja workshop translates into better organised preparation for the Super Falcons remains to be seen. Fans supporting the Super Falcons can use Bet9ja’s YOHAIG code ahead of WAFCON.
📌 Did You Know?
- WAFU-B Zone B comprises seven member nations: Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger Republic, Togo, and Benin Republic, making it one of the most competitive sub-regional zones in African football by international ranking.
- WAFCON 2026 in Morocco was originally scheduled for March before CAF moved it to July 26 to August 16, giving all participating nations additional time to prepare, a window Nigeria has struggled to use effectively according to the players themselves.
- The 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in Brazil, and WAFCON 2026 serves as the primary African qualifying pathway, with the four semi-finalists receiving automatic berths and two more places going to intercontinental play-offs.
- Nigeria’s Super Falcons are the most successful team in WAFCON history, having won the competition a record ten times, though their last title was at the 2022 edition, which they also hosted in Morocco.
- COSAFA and CAF held a parallel women’s football administrators workshop in Johannesburg in March 2026 under the theme “Empowering Our Game,” suggesting that CAF is systematically running these capacity-building events across all six African zones in 2026.
- Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade plays her club football in Spain, and has been one of the most consistent performers at international level for Nigeria, combining strong WAFCON campaigns with an outspoken commitment to the team’s standards that has occasionally put her at odds with the federation.
- Philippe Tchere, the WAFU-B Executive Director scheduled to attend the Abuja workshop, was also among the CAF officials who inspected Ogun State venues in February 2026 for the potential hosting of the 2026 CAF African Schools Football Championship finals.
