Obasanjo donates womens' trophy

By Eniwoke Ibagere
BBC Sport, Lagos

Nigeria will be at the World Cup finals in China

A new trophy for the African Women Nations Cup soccer tournament has been donated to Caf by Stella Obasanjo, wife of Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo.

The trophy, to be contested by the continent's national women's teams, replaces the one that was won for keeps by Nigeria's Super Falcons.

They beat Ghana's Black Queens 2-0 in Warri town, during the 2002 Nations Cup finals.

"We hope our team wins this trophy in 2004 to begin the possibility of winning it for keeps again," Obasanjo's wife jokingly said during the presentation on Tuesday.

It took place during the opening ceremony of the Abuja National Stadium, which is to be used for October's All-Africa games.

The Falcons won the first two editions of the biennial tournament in 1998 and 2000.

Mrs Obasanjo handed over the trophy to Caf executive committee member Amos Adamu, to pass on to Caf headquarters in Cairo.

The African football governing body approved a women's soccer tournament for the All-Africa Games.

The Falcons and other seven senior teams would most likely compete in the tournament, because the continent has no under-23 national teams for women.

The Super Falcons, Africa's best side in women's football, have only lost once - to arch-rivals Ghana - on the continent since they were formed in 1991.

Nigeria have also played in every edition of the women's world Cup finals since its introduction in 1991.

They competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and have qualified for this year's World Cup tournament, scheduled for August in China.