The media from all over the continent convened for a virtual meeting with African women’s football pioneers lately, as the CAF Women’s Champions League Morocco 2024 officially begins this weekend.
Before the CAF Women’s Champions League begins this weekend, media members were brought together by CAF Women’s Football Development Head Meskerem Tadesse Goshime, CAF Women’s Coach of the Year and WAFCON winner Dr. Desiree Ellis, and CAF Technical Study Group member Clémentine Touré to talk about the development of the women’s game in Africa.
The CAF Women’s Champions League has seen a notable increase in both popularity and competition since its first edition. Because CAF has done a great job of packaging the competition and using it as a platform to identify talent, clubs and federations are still showing interest in it.
“Since the inaugural edition, we have witnessed incredible advancements in technical, tactical, physical, and mental skills. For instance, the goalkeepers’ performances have been outstanding,” Touré remarked.
By training coaches and administrators in clubs and federations, CAF also aims to professionalize women’s football throughout Africa.
“In order to assist women coaches in developing their coaching abilities, we have instituted CAF C and D licenses specifically for them in a number of member associations. We want women to be able to hold leadership roles, coaching roles, and even club president positions.
By funding training, CAF hopes to advance equal opportunities for women in all areas of football, from management to training, in addition to bolstering teams’ technical capabilities. Goshime stated that the goal of this commitment is to guarantee that African women’s football can compete with the top international teams.
Persistent issues were also discussed, such as the necessity of professionalizing national leagues to increase competition.
Since many of our divisions are still semi-professional, we are unable to compete with teams like Manchester City or FC Barcelona. However, our players will soon be able to fully focus on football and achieve new heights thanks to CAF’s increasing efforts to create strong national leagues,” Ellis stated.
The presenters concluded by expressing a common sense of hope on the future of women’s football in Africa.
In addition to being a tournament, Goshime claims that the CAF Women’s Champions League serves as a catalyst for Member Associations and leagues throughout Africa to contribute to the advancement of the women’s game.
“Our long-term vision is to use this competition to encourage clubs and federations to invest more in their national leagues which will help in elevating the standard of women’s football,” she said.
From November 9 to November 23, Morocco will host the fourth CAF Women’s Champions League.
