By Ernest Victor

Sao Tome and Principe have withdrawn from the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier which was supposed to take place on Friday, September 22, against the Super Falcons of Nigeria.

The Super Falcons and the Sao Tome and Principe’s women’s national team were scheduled to play in the first leg of their qualification match on Friday at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos. The second leg was scheduled for Tuesday, September 26, at the same venue.

The 24 Super Falcons players shortlisted for the game were supposed to start arriving in the country today in preparation for the match. However, that might no longer be necessary.

The Director of Communications for the NFF, Ademola Olajire told the Punch that Sao Tome and Principe decided to withdraw from the game due to financial issues.

He said, “Sao Tome have officially withdrawn from the game against Nigeria.

“They said they don’t have a stadium in their country and that has increased their cost of participating in international competitions.”

Based on this development, the Super Falcons have automatically qualified for the second round of the qualification series and Sao Tome are out.

The Super Falcons will face Cape Verde or Liberia in the second round of the qualifiers between November 27 to December 5, 2023.

The winner of the round will automatically qualify for the 2024 WAFCON which will be hosted in Morocco.

Note that Sao Tome and Principe’s women’s team refused to play the Nigerian women’s team after the Super Eagles beat Sao Tome and Principe’s men 16-0 on aggregate during the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.