CAF’s Women Footballer of The Year 2018 Thembi Kgatlana is among several African football stakeholders who berated the Confederation of African Football for pairing Nigeria against Ghana in the first round of qualifiers for the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations.

CAF’s Women Footballer of The Year 2018 Thembi Kgatlana is among several African football stakeholders who berated the Confederation of African Football for pairing Nigeria against Ghana in the first round of qualifiers for the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations.

The 2022 AWCON serves as qualifiers for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Nine-time champions Super Falcons were pitted against the Black Queens in the draws held at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.

Both legs will be held between June 7 and 15, with Falcons hosting the first leg, before travelling to Ghana for the reverse fixture.

Winners of the tie face the winners between Niger and Ivory Coast in another round of qualifiers between October 19 and 28.

With the draw, it means two out of superpowers Nigeria and Ghana, and emerging force Ivory Coast, who are highly favoured to beat Niger, will not make it to the AWCON and the Women’s World Cup, which infuriated major followers of the continent’s women’s game.