Within days of the release of the women’s African Nations Cup draw, The Gambia national women’s team coach Mariama Bom Sowe, eager to follow the success path of their male counter parts, swiftly invited a 28-woman squad to begin technical preparations.
The Gambia is paired with Sierra Leone in the first round of the qualifiers slated to start next month. However the GFF announced yesterday that it has received a communication from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) of its decision to postpone the qualifiers for the women’s Africa Cup of Nations, the finals of which will be in Morocco in 2022.
This decision, according to the Caf circular quoted by the GFF, is in line with the postponement of the men’s World Cup qualifiers, based on the actual conditions of certain stadiums in Africa and the restrictions related to Covid19.
According to Caf, the new dates for the first and second legs of the first round of the qualifiers with Sierra Leone will now take place in the Fifa window of 18th–26th October 2021, with the winner advancing to the second and final rounds in the Fifa window of 14- 23rd February 2022.
The GFF said though the Caf circular was dated since May 17, it only arrived in Banjul Tuesday.
The delay now means that the Head Coach will now submit a revised technical preparation plan to the Technical and Development Committee of the GFF for review and take appropriate actionm.
