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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has annulled Edo Queens’ penalty shootout victory over Ampem Darkoa Ladies in the WAFU Zone B final of the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League qualifiers.
The decision follows a formal protest by the Ghanaian side over the procedure used to determine the winner of the September 5 final in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The match ended 2-2 after 90 minutes, and Edo Queens subsequently defeated Ampem Darkoa 4-1 on penalties to claim the WAFU B title and qualification for the CAF Women’s Champions League.
However, the CAF Women’s Football Organizing Committee, in a ruling dated September 26, 2026, determined that the match should not have gone directly to a penalty shootout.
According to the competition rules, two 15-minute extra time periods should have been played before penalties were used to decide the winner if the score remained level.
CAF stated that the inability to play extra time was due to an administrative error and was not the responsibility of either Edo Queens or Ampem Darkoa. The match officials had initially been informed that extra time would be played, but the referee was then ordered to proceed directly to penalties if the game remained tied after regulation time.
Ampem Darkoa had argued that the procedure violated articles 13.1 and 72.4 of the CAF Women’s Champions League Regulations.
CAF has now upheld the protest and ruled that Edo Queens’ 4-1 penalty shootout victory has no sporting effect.
Instead of ordering the entire match to be replayed, CAF has ordered the final score to be resumed from the score 2-2 at the start of extra time.
The teams will play two 15-minute periods and, if the score remains tied after extra time, a new penalty shootout will be held to determine the winner.
The CAF has also ordered the WAFU Zone B to determine the date, start time and location for the continuation in consultation with the two national associations.
The eventual winner will secure the WAFU Zone B qualification ticket for the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League finals.
