Women's football in Nigeria

Women's football in Nigeria has been increasing in popularity for many years.[1][2] The Nigerian Women's Championship is funded by the government to improve the Nigeria women's national football team.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

For more in depth, albeit general information see Football in Nigeria.
Women's football in Nigeria
CountryNigeria
Governing bodyNigeria Football Federation
National team(s)Women's national team
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

History

Numerous Nigerian cities hosted women's football teams by 1960.[11] Multiple efforts were made in the 1960s to start women's football clubs in South Africa, but they proved fleeting. The 1970s saw some growth, with new women's leagues in Nigeria and an expansion of women's football into Western African countries, including Senegal. In 1978 Christopher Akintunde Abisuga created a club, first of their kind, called the sugar babes. This club was an all-female club and one of the first all-women teams. The team had no other female teams to compete with so they had to compete with male teams throughout the country. This team had much support through sponsorships and inspired players however they only lasted a few years. One local club in Dakar played a match against an Italian club in 1974; five years later, an early match between African nations was played by the Dakar side and a team from Guinea.[12]

National team

Despite a lack of support from Nigerian officials, 28 clubs played women's football in the country by 1989, and Nigeria's national team competed in the 1991 Women's World Cup. This was made possible because of a major women's tournament privately funded by a wealthy entrepreneur. The tournament had the approval of the Nigerian FA and eventually led to the formation of the first women's national team. More women began playing football in the 1990s, in countries like Nigeria and South Africa. In 1998, CAF introduced an official African Women's Championship, following two unofficial versions of the tournament earlier in the 1990s; host country Nigeria won, beginning a stretch of five consecutive titles in the event. The next year, the squad reached the quarterfinals of the 1999 Women's World Cup.[13] The Nigerian women's national team has won eleven African cups of nation titles most recently in 2018. They are also the only team that has reached the quarter-finals at the summer Olympics and the women's FIFA world cup. As of 2020, the Nigerian women's national team is ranked 38th according to FIFA's world ranking chart. Mercy Akide, a striker who played on the '99 women's national team, is considered the most famous name in African women's football. Her spectacular playing in the '99 world cup won her a college scholarship to a school in Tennessee. She is considered to be a symbol of Nigerian women's success in football and to have put African soccer on the global map.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Nigeria: Okocha Commends Growth of Womens Football". AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  2. "In African Women's Soccer, Homophobia Remains an Obstacle". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  3. "Nigeria to overhaul women's football". Nigerian Tribune. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  4. "Nigeria: Women's Football - Club Owners Plan Big for Jonathan". AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  5. "Letter from Africa: Why Nigeria's women out-kick the men". BBC. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  6. "African women's champions Nigeria in fight for 'welfare'". 9 December 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  7. "NFF inaugurates Nigeria Women Football League board - Vanguard News". 5 January 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  8. "Nigeria's Africa Women Cup of Nations win shows interest is on the up". Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  9. "African Artistry and Anger at the Women's World Cup". Retrieved 13 July 2017 – via The Nation.
  10. "Nigeria — the last-ranked team in the Group of Death — is the most badass team at the Women's World Cup". Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  11. Fowowe, Solomon (28 May 2019). "Women's World Cup 2019 team guide No 4: Nigeria". Retrieved 3 June 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  12. Peter Alegi (2 March 2010). African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game. Ohio University Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-89680-278-0. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  13. Alegi, pp. 121–123.
  14. Peter Alegi (2 March 2010). African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game. Ohio University Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-89680-278-0. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.