Oparanozie condemn CAF decision to postpone WAFCON 2026

Former Super Falcons captain Desire Oparanozie has voiced her profound disappointment at the recurring setbacks for women's football on the continent.

The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations has been postponed just 12 days before the finals were set to kick off in Morocco.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF), in a statement released on Thursday, said it was rescheduling the tournament to July due to "unforeseen circumstances".

The tournament, which this year doubles up as a qualifier for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil, was scheduled to be held from March 17 to April 3.

Morocco was set to stage a third successive edition of the finals, but reports of a potential hosting change had created anxiety among players and fans in recent weeks.

Speculation about the country's willingness to host the tournament increased after the chaotic scenes that played out in the 2025 men's AFCON final, which Morocco lost 1-0 to Senegal in a dramatic match at the Stade Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat.

CAF said the decision to postpone the tournament was taken to "ensure the success of this important women's competition".

The tournament will now be held from 25 July to 16 August, it said, stating that "preparations for the tournament are underway". It did not indicate whether the host nation would change.

The group stage draw for the expanded 16-team tournament was made on January 15, but CAF had not yet published the full match schedule.

It will be recalled that at the start of February, South African Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie was forced to clarify remarks from his deputy that South Africa was set to take over as WAFCON 2026 hosts.

The postponement will once again lead to questions about CAF's commitment to the women's game, with the 2020 WAFCON cancelled entirely because of the Covid-19 pandemic, while the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations was rescheduled until early 2022.

The 2024 WAFCON, won by Nigeria, was only held in July last year because of scheduling conflicts, including the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Before CAF's announcement, Oparanozie spoke to the BBC

"I'm very much worried, and I would say I'm disappointed because this keeps happening with women's football," she told BBC Sport Africa.

"During Covid, the WAFCON was postponed [but] the men went on to play the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon."

"I think it's because it's women's football, people really don't give that much importance to it," she said.

Morocco successfully hosted WAFCON in 2022 and the delayed 2024 edition held in 2025, which saw record attendance figures and strong television audiences across Africa.

"It's disappointing that we're depending so much on Morocco," says Oparanozie, who won WAFCON four times with Nigeria.

"CAF should start looking for possible countries that will actually come up to take the spot if Morocco were to pull out."

Oparanozie said the postponement could have a physical and mental impact on players, who were already preparing for the tournament.

Teams like Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana had continued their preparations with high-profile friendlies, with the Black Queens of Ghana on a training tour in the United Arab Emirates.

"They [players] will be very worried considering the amount of work they've put in so far physically and mentally."

"They've put their lives on hold just to focus on this tournament, and prolonged uncertainty could demoralise some," she said.