Chairperson of the Nigeria Women Football League, NWFL, Aisha Falode is confident the maiden CAF Women’s Champions League has come to stay.
Speaking in a radio interview on Brila FM on Monday as monitored by Africa Top Sports, Mrs. Falode also expressed hope that there will be hitches when the competition starts.
Falode expressed confidence that clubs from the NWFL will win the maiden edition of the tournament when it starts in 2021.
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“There is a big task ahead of everyone wanted CAF Women’s Champions League. The competition is here.
“We are excited about and look forward to it. There is hope that when it kicks off, there would be no hitches.
“CAF must structure the modalities and strategies for having a sustainable and smooth running of the CAF Champions League in Africa.
“The Champions League has come to stay.
“Nigerians pioneered Women’s football in Africa, we also have the prerogative to produce the first Women’s club to win the inaugural CAF Champions League.”
The visionary sport administrator also appealed to state government to support privately-owned clubs when they qualify for the competition, as they are representing the state and the country.
“We have 16 clubs in what we call the NWFL Premiership.
“We just rebranded a couple of months ago, so that we can put women’s football out there for people to see.
“Out of the 16 clubs, 14 are government-owned while two are privately funded and those two are in Lagos.
“The Lagos State government has to in some way come to the aid and the assistance of these clubs because when they go continental.
“Even when they play the domestic league, we call them FC Robo Queens of Lagos, Dream Stars of Lagos.
“We don’t call them Dream Stars of Abolore or Robo FC of Osahon.
“They are representing a state. If any of them qualify to play in the CAF Women’s Champions League, it will be referred to as Robo FC of Lagos, Nigeria.
“That in itself is enough publicity and millage for the government.
“In any case, it is also helping the young girls who have taken this football as a passion and profession to be so supported to attain a Pinnacle of her potential.
“We have almost ten players from our domestic league at the last World Cup with the Super Falcons and four of them made the first eleven, played in every game that we played in France.
“All of these players are now in Europe playing football. This is the beauty of the game.
“Once you have that international exposure and you are good, there are chances that you will get signed up which will change the lives of their family when they begin to hustle and invest in Nigeria.
“We should look at the long term of this investment.
“It is not a buying and selling kind of relationship, it is an investment that will take time to mature and we will begin to reap the benefits.
She also urged States government to pay players salary especially tough times like this.
“This is what we are asking the state governments to do now.
“Even those state governments who are owing their players, we have continued to dialogue with them. We have had conversations with them.
“We have appealed to their excellencies to pay these girls their wages.
“We know these times are tough. The point is that in these tough times, people are still getting paid.
“Some people are still getting their wages and allowances.
How would you want to deny our young girls that? This is the conversation we will continue to have.
The Confederation of African Football, CAF during her Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, endorsed the CAF Women’s Champions League which is expected to kick off in 2021.
The format and modalities of the competition will be made know by CAF in due time as women’s football enthusiasts await whether it will be a one-off tournament or a regional competition.