Ntuthuko Maphumulo South Africa will be hosting the African Nations Women’s Cup finals on November 11 to 25, with games being played at Makhulong in Tembisa and Orlando stadium in Soweto. The tournament was first scheduled for October 14 to 28, but was changed by the South African Football Association (Safa) due to those dates’ proximity to the Olympics. The organisers felt that the tournament would not get media coverage and support from the fans. But the new dates could cause another problem if the Banyana Banyana squad has students playing in the tournament who will be writing matric, technikon or university examinations during that time. The squad could lose some of its best players or have them play in the tournament, but write their exams the following year. It will have to be up to each player to decide whether to write her exams or represent her country. South Africa’s manager for all women’s teams Fran Hilton-Smith says: “If the squad includes players who will be writing their exams, we will try to get them exempted from writing this year, to write in January 2001.”
Banyana Banyana are looking to go into camp on October 15, and their coach will be under-20 coach Augusto Palacios. There will be eight African women’s senior national teams participating in the tournament. Nigeria are currently the defending African Nations champions: they hosted the event in 1998 and won the title after beating Cameroon 6-0 on aggregate. Nigeria and Ghana qualified for the Women’s World Cup in the United States last year. Nigeria’s team represented African women at the Sydney Olympics only to be sent packing after the first round. The Nigerians could come to the African Nations Women’s Cup with renewed determination to restore their pride in Africa.
There will be two groups for the November championship: Group one, which will consist of South Africa, R’union, Uganda and Zimbabwe, and Group two, with Nigeria, Cameron, Morocco and Ghana. Hilton-Smith is pleased with the draw. “For South Africa it is good because all the strong teams are in the other group,” she says.
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