The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has officially appealed to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) regarding the annulment of Edo Queens' contested WAFU-B title. This development follows CAF's decision to invalidate the Nigerian club's penalty shootout victory over Ghana's Ampem Darkoa Ladies, which had concluded with a score of 4-1 on September 5.

In a petition dated September 28 and signed by Emmanuel Ikpeme, the NFF's Deputy Secretary-General, the federation challenged the legality and fairness of the remedy imposed on Edo Queens. The annulment came after a protest from the Ghana Football Association, which argued that the match should have included 30 minutes of extra time before any penalties were taken.

The NFF contends that even if there was an error in the match officiating by moving directly to penalties, Edo Queens should not be penalized for a mistake they did not cause or request. The federation emphasized that the responsibility for the match procedure lies with the officials, not the players or the club.

In its appeal, the NFF argued that CAF's authority to identify a regulatory irregularity does not grant unlimited power to impose remedies. They requested that the CAF Appeals Committee clarify whether the regulations allowed for the annulment of a completed penalty shootout and the resumption of the match from extra time, especially when neither team was at fault for the breach.

The NFF highlighted that Edo Queens did not refuse to play extra time, nor did they demand penalties or mislead the referee about the regulations. Instead, they complied with the official directive to resolve the match via a penalty shootout. The federation pointed out that the ruling by CAF acknowledged that the failure to play extra time was due to an administrative instruction, absolving both teams of responsibility for the error.

CAF's ruling mandated that the final should resume with the score at 2-2 at the start of extra time, with a new penalty shootout if the match remained tied. In its appeal, the NFF urged the Appeals Committee to differentiate between correcting a regulatory mistake and unfairly transferring the consequences of that mistake to a participant deemed innocent.

The NFF's appeal underscores the importance of upholding fairness in sports governance and ensuring that clubs are not unjustly penalized for administrative errors beyond their control. As this situation unfolds, the football community will be watching closely to see how CAF responds to the NFF's challenge.