The Confederation of African Football has overturned what had appeared to be a completed WAFU Zone B final and sent Nigeria’s Edo Queens and Ghana’s Ampem Darkoa Ladies back onto the pitch. The 4-1 penalty-shootout result that initially handed Edo Queens the title and the zone’s place at the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League has been annulled. The match will instead resume from 2-2 at the start of extra time.
The decision, dated 26 September 2026 and signed in Kinshasa by Bestine Kazadi, president of CAF’s Organising Committee for Women’s Football, follows a protest filed by the Ghana Football Association on behalf of Ampem Darkoa. CAF found that officials wrongly skipped the mandatory extra-time stage after a 2-2 draw on 5 September at Stade du 4 Août in Ouagadougou.
How the final unfolded
The final itself was already dramatic. Kick-off was delayed by about 90 minutes because of weather. Ampem Darkoa struck almost immediately through Beline Nyarko in the opening minutes. Edo Queens levelled soon after through Doosuur Anastasia Atume.
Nyarko restored Ghana’s lead from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute. Deep into stoppage time, substitute Oluebube Umejiaku equalised for Edo Queens, making it 2-2. Officials then went straight to penalties. Edo Queens converted all four of their kicks; Ampem Darkoa scored only one of three attempts. Goalkeeper Ademola Morufat saved one Ghanaian penalty, and Millot Pokuaa missed another. Ifeoma Ikenokwalu scored the decisive kick.
Edo Queens had reached the final by beating hosts USFA 5-1 in the semi-finals. Ampem Darkoa arrived with a perfect group-and-knockout record, including a 2-1 group-stage win over Edo Queens and a 4-1 semi-final victory over Benin’s Dynamique d’Abomey. Nyarko was named player of the final. Oluwakemi Adegbuyi was player of the tournament; Atume finished as top scorer with four goals.
Why CAF intervened
Article 72.4 of the CAF Women’s Champions League regulations states that a drawn final must go to two 15-minute periods of extra time before penalties. Article 13.1 extends those technical rules to zonal qualifying tournaments. Ampem Darkoa and the GFA argued that skipping extra time breached both articles. They also said their substitution and tactical choices in the second half were made on the assumption that extra time would follow a draw.
CAF accepted that argument. Referee and assessor reports showed officials had been told before the match, and at the coordination meeting, that extra time was required. During the second half, however, the referee received a new instruction to go straight to penalties if the score was level. CAF said the referee acted on that instruction in good faith. The error was administrative, not the fault of either club.
The GFA lodged an initial protest on 7 September, within 48 hours of the match, and a fuller petition on 9 September. Ampem Darkoa asked either for a complete replay or for the match to resume from extra time. CAF chose the second option.
What the ruling actually says
CAF considered three options: confirm the 4-1 shootout, replay the entire match, or resume from extra time. It rejected the first because that would leave a mandatory stage unplayed. It rejected a full replay because the 90 minutes had been validly completed and no irregularity had tainted regulation time. Repeating those 90 minutes would have forced both sides to replay a period already properly finished.
The chosen remedy, CAF said, was the most proportionate, equitable and sporting one: keep the 2-2 score, play the omitted extra time, and only then, if needed, hold a new shootout. The original 4-1 penalty result is annulled and shall have no sporting effect.
Conditions for the resumption are unusually precise. As far as practically and legally possible, the continuation must start under the same sporting conditions that existed at the end of the 90 minutes: the same players on the field, remaining substitutes, substitutions already used, disciplinary records, and, if possible, the same venue and officials. WAFU B must supply both clubs with the original match sheet, substitution record, eligibility list, and disciplinary status before kick-off. WAFU B will set the date, time and venue in consultation with CAF, the GFA and the Nigeria Football Federation, and will bear the organisational and financial costs.
What is at stake?
The winner of the resumed final takes WAFU Zone B’s single ticket to the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League. Until extra time — and a possible new shootout — is completed, the zonal title remains vacant. More than three weeks after the original match, neither side can claim the trophy or the continental place.
The ruling leaves both clubs in an unusual position. Edo Queens had already celebrated qualification and a second appearance at the continental finals. Ampem Darkoa, who had beaten Edo Queens in the group stage and led twice in the final, now get the extra-time period they say they planned for. Neither club was sanctioned. The problem, CAF concluded, sat with the instructions given to the officials, not with the players or coaches.