The West African Football Union (French: Union des Fédérations Ouest-Africaines de Football; Portuguese: União das Federações Oeste Africanas), officially abbreviated as WAFU-UFOA and WAFU, is a sports governing body representing the football associations in West Africa that was founded in 1975 and is a subregional body of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
 Logo used between 2017 and 2020 | |
 Zone A Zone B | |
| Formation | 1975 |
|---|---|
| Type |
|
Region served | West Africa |
Membership | |
Official language | English, French and Portuguese |
| Affiliations | CAF, FIFA |
| Website | |
It mainly organizes qualifying tournaments/championships for the CAF Women's Champions League and CAF's national team competitions except the Africa Cup of Nations, but also organizes its own competitions, like the currently-inactive WAFU Nations Cup.
Presidents
edit
K. Tandoh (1975–1977)
Seyi Memene (1977–1984)
Abdoulaye Fofana (1984–1988)
Jonathan Boytie Ogufere (1988–1994)
Dieng Ousseynou (1994–1999)- Abdulmumini Aminu (1999–2002)
- El Hadji Malick Sy (2002–2004)
- Jacques Anouma (2004–2008)[1]
- Amos Adamu (2008–2010)
- Kwesi Nyantakyi (2011–2018)[2]
- Kurt Okraku (2019–present)
Member associations
editWAFU consists of all football associations of West Africa, but got split into two zones by CAF, who cited "organisational issues facing WAFU."[3]
- Zone A (Niger)
- Zone B (Volta Niger)
Mauritania is the only WAFU member to also be a member of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).
Competitions
editWAFU runs main and qualifying competitions covering men, women and youth.
Current title holders
edit| Competition | Year | Champions | Rank/Score | Runners-up | Next edition | Dates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National teams (men) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WAFU Nations Cup | 2019 |  Senegal
|
1st |  Ghana
|
TBA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WAFU Zone A Nations Cup | 2024 | 5–17 July | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone A U-20 Championship | 2023 | Senegal
|
2st |  Gambia
|
2024 | 15–30 September | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone B U-20 Championship | 2023 |  Ivory Coast
|
1st |  Burkina Faso
|
2024 | 17–31 October | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone A U-17 Championship | 2023 |  Mali
|
Senegal
|
2024 WAFU Zone A U-17 Championship | 20 Oct – 3 Nov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone B U-17 Championship | 2024 | Burkina Faso
|
3–1[4] | Ivory Coast
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone A U-15 Championship | 2022 | Senegal
|
3–0[5] |  Liberia
|
TBD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone A Schools Championship | 2022 |  CS Ben Sekou Sylla
|
1st | New Yundum
|
TBD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone B Schools Championship | 2022 |  CEG Sainte Rita
|
1st | CS Venus Saioua
|
TBD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WAFU Zone A Beach Soccer | 2024 | 3–7 July | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National teams (women) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone A Women's Cup | 2023 | Senegal
|
2nd |  Cape Verde
|
TBD | TBD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone B Women's Cup | 2019 |  Nigeria
|
1st | Ivory Coast
|
TBD | TBD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WAFU Zone A U20 Women's Cup | 2024 | Senegal
|
 Guinea-Bissau
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WAFU Zone B U20 Women's Cup | 2023 | Ghana
|
1st | Nigeria
|
TBD | TBD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone A Girls Schools Championship | 2022 | Scan Aid
|
1st | Ecole Congresso De Cassaca
|
TBD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zone B Girls Schools Championship | 2022 | CEG Colby
|
1st | Ecole Chanvigny B
|
TBD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clubs (women) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone A) | 2023 | AS Mandé
|
1st | AS Dakar
|
2024 | TBD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone B) | 2023 | Ampem Darkoa Ladies
|
1st | Delta Queens
|
2024 | TBD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defunct competitions
edit| Competition | Duration |
|---|---|
| CEDEAO Cup | 1977–1991 |
| West African Club Championship | 1977–2011 |
| Amílcar Cabral Cup | 1979–2007 |
| West African Nations Cup | 1982–1987 |
| UEMOA Tournament | 2007–2016 |
| WAFU U20 Women's Cup | Proposed for 2022 but never happened [6][7][8] |
FIFA World Rankings
editMen's national teams
editRankings are calculated by FIFA.[9]
| WAFU | Zone | FIFA | Country | Points | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 17 | Senegal
|
1624.73 | 
|
| 2 | B | 30 | Nigeria
|
1520.27 |
|
| 3 | A | 38 | Ivory Coast
|
1498.8 |  1
|
| 4 | B | 44 | Mali
|
1477.9 |  1
|
| 5 | B | 62 | Burkina Faso
|
1390.38 |
|
| 6 | B | 65 | Cape Verde
|
1425.64 | 1
|
| 6 | B | 68 | Ghana
|
1358.77 | 1
|
| 7 | A | 76 | Guinea
|
1324.65 | 1
|
| 8 | A | 97 | Benin
|
1225.68 |
|
| 9 | B | 105 |  Mauritania
|
1195.5 |
|
| 10 | A | 113 |  Togo
|
1170.34 | 6
|
| 11 | B | 113 | Guinea-Bissau
|
1163.44 | 1
|
| 12 | A | 126 |  Sierra Leone
|
1137.36 | 2
|
| 13 | B | 129 |  Niger
|
1125.5 | 1
|
| 14 | A | 130 | Gambia
|
1114.8 | 1
|
| 16 | A | 152 | Liberia
|
1029.58 |
|
Top-ranked men's national football teams
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Wafu Cup to make a comeback". BBC Sport. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
Amos Adamu, president of Wafu,...
- ^ "Nyantakyi resigns from FIFA, CAF, and WAFU positions". Graphic Online. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ "West African Football Union (Wafu) disbanded by Caf". BBC Sport. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
- ^ "Tapsoba double fires Burkina Faso to WAFU B U-17 AFCON qualifying title". CAFOnline.com. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "Senegal win WAFU A U15 boys tournament". CAFOnline.com. 21 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ https://matinlibre.com/2021/10/27/coupe-ufoa-des-nations-u-20-feminine-necessite-de-vite-remettre-au-travail-ouzerou-et-ses-filles/
- ^ "UFOA : Un nouveau tournoi pour les sélections nationales féminines U20 – Le Kpakpato Sportif". 23 October 2021.
- ^ "UFOA : La 1ère édition du tournoi U20 féminin et prévue au Ghana 2022". 27 October 2021.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men)". FIFA. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
External links
edit- Official website for WAFU Zone A
- Official website for WAFU Zone B