The Head of Women’s Football at CAF, Meskerem Tadesse Goshime, says the reason behind the establishment of the Women’s Champions League (CAFWCL) was to help develop the domestic leagues on the continent.
The third edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League will commence over the weekend in Ivory Coast after successful editions in Egypt and Morocco in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa and Morocco’s ASFAR Club have so far won the first two editions of the competitions and had their players play for the respective national teams at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking exclusively to Joy Sports, Tadesse said the CAFWCL has been key to growing the women’s game in various countries.
“The Women’s Champions League was a key in terms of developing the local leagues. When we have continental competitions, we tell the member associations [that] ‘now is the time for you to invest in your leagues so that your clubs can be competitive in the zonal qualifiers as well as in the Champions League,’ she said.
“It has shown us that actually the leagues are competitive, the clubs are also competitive because each year we have five to six new teams in the main tournament except for the north and southern [part] where AS FAR and Sundowns have been repetitive.
“If you saw the performance of Morocco and South Africa at the World Cup and that half of the players were from AS FAR and Sundowns, it’s a testament to the competition [CAFWCL].”
For Ghana, football fans will be hoping Women’s Premier League champions Ampem Darkoa Ladies will replicate the performance of Hasaacas Ladies in the maiden edition when they also make their debut in the competition this year.
The Techiman-based side are alongside defending champions AS FAR, AS Mande of Mali and Equatorial Guinea’s Huracanes Football Club in Group B.
