In Abuja, playing football as a woman is… complicated
By Lucy Ukwa
1999 was an incredible year for Nigeria’s Super Falcons. The team reached the Quarter Finals stage of the FIFA World Cup, narrowly missing out on heading to the semis through a golden goal scored by Brazil’s Sisi.
Apart from the lucky leap into the round of 16 in 2019, it was the only time the Super Falcons stepped out of the group stages. For those of us who weren’t able to watch that game live, YouTube serves as a window into that magical time, especially via the highlights showing just how amazing the squad was.
That team included Adanna Nwaneri, a defender at the time, and now a coach herself. She has also had the opportunity to be part of the coaching staff working with the U17 Falconets at the World Cup from 2010 to 2012.
Speaking to me at a recent football tournament celebrating the International Women’s Day 2020 in Abuja, she recalled how so much has changed, and bizarrely still remains the same, as far as funding women’s football is concerned.
It’s true that the game has massively evolved just as one would expect. Even the men’s game has seen some major improvement in terms of its financial value. Thus it’s no surprise to see that money dominates large chunks of the discussions surrounding women’s football.
It’s also incredible to think of the amount of time Nigerian football has had to grow. The African giant has been on the scene since organized international football began, having featured in the inaugural women’s World Cup in 1991 and has made an appearance in every edition since then.
Performances on the big stage contributed to some positive development back at home as academies sprung up to help with developing local talent and provide a channel for them to transition onto the professional stage, just as is the norm today.
Paradise Lost
“Back then we had Pepsi Academy in Lagos,” Adanna says, highlighting the important role academies played in grooming girls to play football professionally.
There has been considerable time to develop, the national league has grown with teams like Rivers Angels and Robo FC producing players that now ply their trade in some of the biggest leagues in Europe and America.
The question must be asked, with all that development why is Abuja left out? How come you can look through the teams competing in the Nigerian Women Football league (NWFL), the top tier league in the country and fail to spot the Capital City’s presence?.
Adanna says it wasn’t always like this.
“We had the FCT Queens, which was supported by the office of the FCT Minister before the Sports Council took over. Then a case of players being owed their pay disrupted play for the team.”
A back and forth with the interested parties and finally a call for help at the famous Human Rights Radio eventually led to the girls getting their pay but at a costly price; the disbandment of the team.
Girls and women in the Capital City now had their right to play the beautiful game suppressed. There was some hope in the form of Abuja resident passionate about the women’s game, Dili Onyedimna.
“She took it upon herself and started sponsoring the team, which were now called Capital City Doves from 2014 to 2016. The team was even in the top premiership with teams like Rivers Angels and Nassarawa Amazons who we held to a draw in our home and won respectively,” Adanna tells me.
The sad truth is that even this altruism could not be sustained. After 2016, the FCT team ceased to exist but the players continued to play in state-level leagues and have continued to do so up until this moment.
Hope
The new chairman of the Sports Council has promised to do ‘his best’ to help the team regain it’s status again. Adanna says she wants to hope he will come good. She believes that the team can succeed at the playoffs later this year and secure a return to the top tier.
However, hope isn’t necessarily currency. Adanna believes more can and should be done.
“Abuja needs a team that will come from the Minister so that their salaries will be on the payroll of the Sports Council or the FA,” she suggests.
This approach caters for players and staff while ensuring they can organise themselves in teams to participate in any tournaments they have access to.
In the meantime, Abuja-based academies like Phoenix Women’s Football, cofounded by Bidei Aperetari Jackson and inspired by the lack of resources and support to encourage women to play, and institutions like Planet Futsal have created a safe space for women and girls in the Capital City to play and get closer to fulfilling their dreams.
Bidei’s attitude toward football is one that sees it as a way to create opportunities for players that are otherwise unavailable.
“With Football, less privileged girls can actually access good education and a lot of other things.
“If I could help them be good at football then they can also have access to other things they ordinarily wouldn’t get because they’re less privileged,” Bidei insists. “It’s free, just come here even if you don’t have boots or kits, just come.”
The potential for women’s football in the Capital City to thrive is apparent. It just needs the right nudge to regain its official status and makes a comeback to the NWFL.
Until then, the focus has to be stacking up successive wins with protecting women and girls, and their right to enjoy a game they’ve chosen and are ordinarily excluded from.
This story is part of a series highlighting the work of journalists who participated in TechHer’s Gender Reporting for Media Professionals Workshop. Find out more about Lucy Ukwa.
