Firstly of February, South African Sports activities Minister Gayton McKenzie was forced to clarify remarks from his deputy that South Africa was set to step in as Wafcon hosts, including additional gas to speak of a possible change from Morocco.
McKenzie went on to say that “South Africa has expressed its willingness to help Caf if required, ought to different internet hosting preparations for the 2026 Wafcon turn into mandatory”.
In response, Caf president Patrice Motsepe stated “many” different nations have been all in favour of internet hosting Wafcon however couldn’t as a result of they wished to change the dates of the match.
Motsepe went on to insist “we will not change the dates” – a remark which has aged poorly, particularly as this isn’t the primary time Wafcon has been shunted round Africa’s footballing calendar, resulting in accusations that girls’s soccer is just not seen as a precedence.
Whereas the lads’s Afcon was merely delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, Wafcon 2020 was cancelled solely. The 2024 version was lastly performed final July, having been postponed for a year.
This time round, with solely 12 days’ discover given, groups have been within the last levels of their preparations. Ghana’s gamers, for instance, have been already in a coaching camp within the UAE.
“It simply would not occur for different tournaments in girls’s soccer – and particularly in males’s soccer,” Ashleigh Plumptre advised Sportsworld on the BBC World Service.
The Nigeria defender, who was a part of the Tremendous Falcons aspect who secured a record-breaking 10th title final July, says the truth that the 2026 match – the first to feature 16 teams – will double up as qualifying for subsequent yr’s Fifa Ladies’s World Cup in Brazil makes the late postponement extra distressing.
“Many groups have not even been within the Afcon earlier than, by no means thoughts had the prospect to qualify for a World Cup. It additionally helps them financially,” Plumptre added.
“All I can do, and I’ve nearly in all probability been pressured to be put on this place, is simply take day-to-day and put together myself in one of the simplest ways that I can as a result of there’s so many issues I’ve needed to get accustomed to, and lots of different gamers in African soccer, the place you sort of simply must go together with it, as a result of you haven’t any different selection.”
