AWC FALLOUT: CAF PROBES GENDER FURORE

• Hayatou
Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) has agreed to investigate claims on the gender of some players at the recent African Women's Championship. The move follows an official complaint from Nigeria against players from Equatorial Guinea.

The Super Falcons beat Equatorial Guinea in the final of the tournament in South Africa earlier this month. Both teams have qualified for the women's World Cup and Equatorial Guinea has strongly defended their players.

The country's football federation said that there was a 'campaign of defamation' against the team, motivated by 'inferiority complex.'

CAF says that Nigeria is the only country to have made a complaint despite the fact that Equatorial Guinea also beat Bayana Bayana and Ghana in the qualifiers and that the issue will be dealt with primarily by its sports medicine group.

No timescale has been set but the World Cup takes place in Germany in June and July next year.

Meanwhile, Nigerian Football Federation's (NFF) spokesperson, Robinson Okosun, told the Associated Press: 'The protest is on. We have lodged our protest with CAF. We are waiting for the response.'

Equatorial Guinea's federation has denied the allegations against Captain Genoveva Anonma and striker, Salimata Simpore, saying the claims stem from an 'inferiority complex' among rival teams. Ghana and Cameroon also questioned the players' gender at the recent African Women's Championship in South Africa. Equatorial Guinea qualified for next year's World Cup after it finished second, losing the final 4-2 to Nigeria.