FIFA U20 Women's World Cup: CAF Postpones Nigeria Vs Burkina Faso Match

FIFA U20 Women's World Cup: CAF Postpones Nigeria Vs Burkina Faso Double Header

By Niyi Busari

Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that due to travel restrictions across parts of Africa as a result of COVID-19, the qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica/Panama 2020 scheduled for September 2020 has been postponed.

The First Round first leg between Nigeria and Burkina Faso was fixed for 3-5 September 2020 with the return leg scheduled for 10-12 September 2020.

Nigeria drew a bye in the preliminary round of the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup qualifiers, while Burkina Faso edged out Gambia 3-2 to advance in January.

The Falconets were due to travel to face Burkina Faso on March 21 before welcoming the Stallions a week later at the Agege Stadium in Lagos but Coronavirus pandemic forced the two legged games postponed.

After the postponement of the qualifiers, CAF said that the revised fixtures for the qualifiers will be announced in due course after consultation with the various stakeholders.

On March 2, 2020, the country’s football body appointed Moses Aduku as the First Assistant Coach, with Bilikisu Tijani as Second Assistant and Audu Yahaya as the team’s goalkeeping trainer.

The NFF had said that Aduku is in charge of the team on an interim basis, pending the recruitment of a substantive head coach.

The winners between Nigeria and Burkina Faso will face Liberia or Cameroon in the third round of the qualifiers as the Nigerian side are seeking to qualify for the 10th edition to be co-hosted by Costa Rica and Panama next year.

Meanwhile, CAF is monitoring the situation closely and working with the relevant authorities with regards to hosting of the world cup qualifying matches, and will make pronouncements accordingly in the event of developments that will affect playing a match at the designated venue.