President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick has confirmed that invitations have been extended to World football power, Argentina and Romania to join host Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroun, Mali, South Africa and Morocco in the Aisha Buhari Women Football tournament scheduled to hold September in Lagos.
The federation chief said the invitation would expand the scope of the tournament, which is Nigeria’s direct benefit from his recent election into the FIFA Council.
Pinnick also noted that the Aisha Buhari tournament is aimed at building a sustainable football culture for Nigeria, and lead to the growth of Nigeria’s soccer industry.
He said, “Argentina and Nigeria have a cordial football rivalry, which has seen both countries in many international contests in recent times.
“We believe that participating in the First Lady of Nigeria Invitational Tournament will further strengthen the ties between Nigeria and Argentina.”
Also speaking on the Aisha Buhari Invitational Tournament, chairman Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL), Aisha Falode, said the organisers carefully selected the countries already listed for the competition based on their history in women football.
“Cameroun and Ghana are some of the strongest footballing nations in Africa. Cameroon played in the final of the African Women Nations Cup against Nigeria in 2016, while Mali played in the bronze medal match at the 2018 edition in Ghana.
“South Africa came second in the 2018 competition, which Nigeria won, while Morocco is one of the strongest women nation teams in North Africa. The Moroccans will host the 2022 African Women Nations Cup,” Falode said.
