Football: Postponement of WAFCON 2026, who pays the bill?

With only twelve days to go, while the crampons were waxed and the plane tickets already stamped, the chopper fell as an insult to professionalism. By announcing on March 5 the postponement to July of a competition supposed to start on March 17, CAF has not only broken the sporting rhythm of the continent; she opened a financial abyss yawning under the feet of the national federations which are already experiencing difficulties in financing women’s football and accelerating its development. 

Uncertainty is the worst enemy of high-level sport, and Desiree Ellis, the iconic coach of South Africa, did not hide her exasperation at this artistic blur which costs a lot. 

" We cannot simply say 'we will see later'. We cannot work in such uncertainty",

 she hammered. 

“How am I supposed to explain to European clubs that their players are now coming home to leave in July, while we’re leaving the FIFA windows? The players are professionals with contracts, not pawns that are moved on a chessboard according to logistical contingencies. - Desiree Ellis

For the winners in 2024, this postponement means dozens of transatlantic plane tickets thrown in the trash, without any hope of reimbursement by the airlines.

Dubai, expensive camp for Ghana
The case of Ghana perfectly illustrates this accounting disaster. The Black Queens had relocated their preparation to Dubai to benefit from high-level infrastructure. Between the rental of land, luxury accommodation for a delegation of forty people and medical logistics, the bill is already colossal. With this late postponement, these investments instantly turn into "lost costs". For a federation like the GFA, whose budgets are often calculated to the penny, this announcement is a financial death warrant for the current fiscal year.

Feeling of betrayal
The feeling of betrayal is all the more vivid among the players, who see in this act, a proof of the archaic hierarchy of continental football. Rasheedat Ajibade, the captain of Nigeria, expressed aloud what many think internally:

 "It’s a slap for our discipline. Imagine for a single second the CAF announcing a postponement of the male AFCON to two weeks before the opening? Never. This shows the little consideration we still have for our careers and sacrifices.” 

Her teammate Ashleigh Plumptre commented, pointing to the catastrophic image sent back to the world: 

"It’s simply embarrassing. We are trying to bring African football to the world summit, but how can you be taken seriously when the very organization of the continent’s major tournament resembles amateurism?

Beyond words, the financial reality is implacable. Nigeria, the giant of the continent, finds itself like many other federations facing an unprecedented legal imbroglio. Next July, the federations will have to negotiate once again the release of players who are coming out of a tiring season, and above all, they will have to repay all international travel. 

CAF hides behind a deafening silence or vague legal terms evoking "unforeseen organizational reasons". But for the presidents of federations, the argument no longer holds. If CAF does not release exceptional subsidies to compensate for the net losses related to cancelled flights and unnecessary internships, it leaves the most committed nations on the brink of technical bankruptcy, condemned to pay for the mistakes of a defaulting organizer.