WEST AFRICAN FOOTBALL UNION

West African Football Union
Union des Fédérations Ouest-Africaines de Football
	Zone A Zone B
Formation	1975; 49 years ago
Type	Sports organization
Region served	West Africa
Membership	Zone A – 9 members Cape Verde ; Gambia ; Guinea ; Guinea-Bissau ; Liberia ; Mali ; Mauritania ; Senegal ; Sierra Leone ; Zone B – 7 members Benin ; Burkina Faso ; Ghana ; Ivory Coast ; Niger ; Nigeria ; Togo ;
Official language	English, French and Portuguese
Affiliations	CAF, FIFA
Website	ufoawafub.com

The West African Football Union ( French: Union des Fédérations Ouest-Africaines de Football; Portuguese: União das Federações Oeste Africanas), officially abbreviated as WAFU-UFOA and WAFU, is an association of the football playing nations in West Africa. It was the brainchild of the Senegal Football Federation who requested that the nations belonging to CAF's Zone A and B meet and hold a regular competitive tournament. The union organises several competitions including the WAFU Nations Cup and in 2008 they organised an under-20 championship.

Presidents

The union's current president is actually Amos Adamu, but he was banned for three years from football activity by FIFA over vote-buying claims for the bids of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. Kwesi Nyantakyi was appointed interim president in Adamu's absence. Adamu has since appealed the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.^[1]

K. Tandoh (1975–1977)
Seyi Memene (1977–1984)
Abdoulaye Fofana (1984–1988)
Jonathan Boytie Ogufere (1988–1994)
Dieng Ousseynou (1994–1999)
Abdulmumini Aminu (1999–2002)
El Hadji Malick Sy (2002–2004)
Jacques Anouma (2004–2008)^[2]
Amos Adamu (2008–2010)
Kwesi Nyantakyi (2011–2018)^[3]

Member associations

The union was founded in 1975 with all the current members, but in 2011 the Confederation of African Football decided to split it into two zones, citing "the organisational issues that face WAFU."^[4]^[1]

Zone A (Niger)
Zone B (Volta Niger)

Mauritania is the only WAFU member to also be a member of the Union of Arab Football Associations.

Country	Zone	Governing body
Cape Verde	Zone A	Cape Verdean Football Federation
Gambia		Gambia Football Association
Guinea		Guinean Football Federation
Guinea-Bissau		Football Federation of Guinea-Bissau
Liberia		Liberia Football Association
Mali		Malian Football Federation
Mauritania		Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Senegal		Senegalese Football Federation
Sierra Leone		Sierra Leone Football Association
Benin	Zone B	Benin Football Federation
Burkina Faso		Burkinabé Football Federation
Ghana		Ghana Football Association
Ivory Coast		Ivorian Football Federation
Niger		Nigerien Football Federation
Nigeria		Nigeria Football Federation
Togo		Togolese Football Federation

Competitions

WAFU runs several competitions which cover men's, women's, youth.

Current title holders

National teams
Competition	Year	Champions	Title	Runners-up	Next edition	Dates
WAFU Nations Cup	2019	Senegal	1st	Ghana	2021
WAFU UFOA A Nations Cup					2024	5-17 July
Zone A U-20 Championship	2022	Senegal	2st	Gambia	2024	15-30 September
Zone B U-20 Championship	2023	Ivory Coast	1st	Burkina Faso	2024	17-31 October
Zone A U-17 Championship	2022	Mali		Senegal	2024	20 October - 3 November
Zone B U-17 Championship	2022	Nigeria		Burkina Faso	2024	15-19 May
Zone A U-15 Championship	2022	Senegal		Liberia	TBD
Zone A Schools Championship	2022^[5]	CS Ben Sekou Sylla	1st	New Yundum	TBD
Zone B Schools Championship	2022	CEG Sainte Rita	1st	CS Venus Saioua	TBD
WAFU Zone A Beach Soccer					2024	3-7 July
National teams (women)
Zone A Women's Cup	2023	Senegal	2nd	Cape Verde	TBD	TBD
Zone B Women's Cup	2019	Nigeria	1st	Ivory Coast	TBD	TBD
WAFU Zone A U20 Women's Cup	2023	Senegal	1st	Guinea	2024	20-30 May
WAFU Zone B U20 Women's Cup	2023	Ghana	1st	Nigeria	TBD	TBD
Zone A Girls Schools Championship	2022^[5]	Scan Aid	1st	Ecole Congresso De Cassaca	TBD
Zone B Girls Schools Championship	2022	CEG Colby	1st	Ecole Chanvigny B	TBD
Clubs (women)
CAF Women's Champions League WAFU Zone A Qualifiers	2023	AS Mabdé	1st	AS Dakar	2024	TBD
CAF Women's Champions League WAFU Zone B Qualifiers	2022	Ampem Darkoa Ladies F.C.	1st	Delta Queens F.C.	2024	TBD

Defunct competitions

Competition	Years
CEDEAO Cup	1977–1991
West African Club Championship	1977–2011
Amílcar Cabral Cup	1979–2007
West African Nations Cup	1982–1987
UEMOA Tournament	2007–2016

FIFA World Rankings

Men's national teams

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.^[6]

WAFU	Zone	FIFA	Country	Points	+/−
1	A	18	Senegal	1584.59
2	B	31	Nigeria	1504.70
3	A	46	Mali	1442.88
4	B	52	Ivory Coast	1435.91
5	B	55	Burkina Faso	1425.64
6	B	60	Ghana	1393.47
7	A	73	Cape Verde	1331.46	1
8	A	83	Guinea	1294.89
9	B	91	Benin	1258.71
10	A	107	Mauritania	1181.86	3
11	A	113	Sierra Leone	1169.71
12	A	115	Guinea-Bissau	1165.53
13	B	119	Niger	1155.23
14	A	124	Gambia	1137.47
15	B	126	Togo	1130.22
16	A	150	Liberia	1051.25

Last updated 25 August 2022

Top Ranked Men's National Football Teams

References

^ ^a ^b "Caf have split the West African Football Union into two separate zones". Goal.com. Goal.com. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
^ "Wafu Cup to make a comeback". BBC Sport. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
^ "Nyantakyi resigns from FIFA, CAF, and WAFU positions". Graphic Online. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
^ "West African Football Union (Wafu) disbanded by Caf". British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC.co.uk. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b "ZONE OUEST A – U15 2022". zoneouesta.org. cafonline.com. 21 Aug 2022. Retrieved 21 Aug 2022.
^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men) - CAF Region". FIFA. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014.

External links

West African Football Union A – official website UFOA A
West African Football Union B – official website UFOA B

[WAFU_split-2-1] "Caf have split the West African Football Union into two separate zones". Goal.com. Goal.com. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.

[2] "Wafu Cup to make a comeback". BBC Sport. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2010.

[3] "Nyantakyi resigns from FIFA, CAF, and WAFU positions". Graphic Online. Retrieved 2022-10-09.

[WAFU_split-4] "West African Football Union (Wafu) disbanded by Caf". British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC.co.uk. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.

[Zone_Ouesta-5] "ZONE OUEST A – U15 2022". zoneouesta.org. cafonline.com. 21 Aug 2022. Retrieved 21 Aug 2022.

[6] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men) - CAF Region". FIFA. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014.

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Presidents

Member associations