Nigeria’s Super Falcons have progressed to the second round of the 2014 African Women's Championship (AWC) in Namibia following the withdrawal of their first round opponents, the Leone Queens of Sierra Leone.
Both West African foes were to clash in the first leg fixture on Friday, February 14 at the Abuja National Stadium while the reverse fixture was billed for a fortnight in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Prior to Thursday’s withdrawal, Falcons head coach, Edwin Okon had named 30-man squad who were expected to hit camp on January 11 to commence preparations for the encounter.
The six-time African champions will wait for the winners of the encounter between Kenya and Rwanda to know their second round opponents.
The encounter will be a two-legged encounter coming up in May. The 2014 African Women's Championship in Namibia will serve as qualifier for the 2015 Fifa World Cup in Canada. Finalists at the Namibia 2014 AWC will win qualification tickets to represent Africa at the World Cup.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) head of technical, Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme who confirmed the Leone Queens' withdrawal from the AWC qualifying match against the Super Falcons said the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLAFA) did not offer any reason for the withdrawal of their team from the biennial football showpiece.
“Yes, that’s true, we just got a letter from the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLAFA) informing us of the withdrawal of their side due to engage the Super Falcons in the AWC qualifying match on February 14 at the Abuja National Stadium.
“The SLAFA letter didn’t state reason for the decision so Super Falcons will have to wait for the winners of the Kenya versus Rwanda game to know their next opponents.
“We’ve communicated with the coaches of the latest development, they’ll in turn inform the players so that they won’t need to assemble in camp as previously stated on January 11.
“We’ll sit down and map out strategies for the remainder of the qualifying matches and ensure that the Falcons don’t only qualify for Namibia 2014 AWC but win one of the tickets for the World Cup in Canada next year,” Ikpeme said to supersport.com.
The Falcons finished a distant fourth position in the immediate past African Women's Championship in Equatorial Guinea.
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