The Confederation of African Football (CAF) annulled Edo Queens' 4-1 penalty-shootout win over Ampem Darkoa Ladies because the WAFU Zone B qualifying final for the 2026 CAF Women's Champions League required 30 minutes of extra time before any shootout. The 2-2 score after 90 minutes on 5 September remained valid. In the continuation played in Cairo on 29 October, the Ghanaian club won in extra time and claimed the qualifying place, according to Citi Sports and ACLSports. An official final match report for the continuation had not been located as of the check on 29 October 2026.
Which rule caused the shootout to be annulled?
Article 72.4 of the CAF Women's Champions League regulations requires a final tied after normal time to proceed to two 15-minute periods of extra time. Only if the teams are still level can a penalty shootout follow. Article 13.1 extends the technical rules of the final tournament to zonal qualifiers. Going directly from 2-2 to penalties in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, therefore breached the prescribed procedure for this final.
According to the ruling as described by the Ghana Football Association and Premium Times, the match officials received an administrative instruction to proceed directly to penalties. CAF attributed the error to that instruction, acknowledged that the referee followed it in good faith and found neither club responsible. This was a procedural error in the method of deciding a tied match, not a VAR review of a goal, offside decision or incident.
Timeline: from the September final to the October decision
| Date in 2026 | Documented development |
|---|---|
| 5 September | Edo Queens and Ampem Darkoa drew 2-2 in the WAFU B final in Ouagadougou. The Nigerian side won the shootout 4-1, but that result was subsequently annulled. |
| 26 September | CAF's Organising Committee for Women's Football upheld Ampem Darkoa's protest, annulled the shootout and ordered extra time without replaying the first 90 minutes. |
| 16 October | The CAF Appeal Board upheld the annulment, dismissed the other claims and required different match officials for the continuation. |
| 29 October | The final resumed from 2-2 in Cairo. Ghanaian and Nigerian media reported that Ampem Darkoa won the additional 30 minutes 1-0. |
CAF's original report, published on 6 September, had described Edo Queens as champions following the shootout. That account records the announcement at the time, but it was superseded by the decisions of 26 September and 16 October.
Why did CAF not order a full replay?
Ampem Darkoa requested either a complete replay of the final or, alternatively, its resumption after normal time. CAF rejected a full replay because it deemed the 90 minutes already played valid and found no evidence that the administrative error affected that portion of the match. It therefore preserved the 2-2 score and cancelled only the tiebreaker conducted in the wrong sequence.
The initial instructions also sought, where practical and legally possible, to preserve the sporting conditions at the end of normal time, including eligible players, disciplinary status and substitutions already used. On appeal, CAF required a different refereeing team. The continuation was ultimately scheduled for Egypt, rather than the Ouagadougou stadium where the original final began.
How did extra time end and who qualified?
On 29 October, Citi Sports reported a 1-0 Ampem Darkoa win in the additional period played in Cairo. ACLSports reported a 3-2 score over the full 120 minutes and credited the decisive goal to Mohammed Afishata in the 92nd minute. These descriptions are consistent: one Ampem Darkoa goal in extra time was added to the preserved 2-2 score from the first 90 minutes. The goalscorer and minute are attributed to a news report, not to an official match sheet verified in this check.
No fresh shootout was necessary. According to those reports, Ampem Darkoa secured the WAFU B berth at the 2026 CAF Women's Champions League in Egypt and joined Group B alongside AS FAR (Morocco), Kawempe Muslim Ladies (Uganda) and USFAS Bamako (Mali). The continental tournament is scheduled for 1-15 November. CAF's schedule published on 27 October had still listed that Group B position as the outstanding WAFU B berth before the regional final was concluded.
Sources and references
- CAF: original match report published on 6 September
- Ghana Football Association: account of the 26 September ruling
- Premium Times: regulatory grounds and source of the error
- Ghana Football Association: 16 October Appeal Board decision
- CAF: Women's Champions League schedule and 29 October resumption
- Citi Sports: Ghanaian side's extra-time victory on 29 October
- ACLSports: reported full-match score and goalscorer on 29 October
