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July 07, 2006
Nigeria rescues women's tourney
After weeks of uncertainty, Nigeria's Delta State has agreed to rescue this year's African women's championship.
Oluwashina Okeleji
BBC Sport, Lagos
The Delta State government will foot the bill for the fifth edition of the continental championship in September.
This development means the Super Falcons will defend the title they won in South Africa in 2004 on home soil.
Warri and Oghara in Delta State also hosted the 2000 tournament won by the seemingly invincible Super Falcons.
As Nigeria also hosted the inaugural edition in 1998 in Kaduna and Abeokuta, this is a competition football fans here are familiar with.
There had been doubts over Nigeria's commitment to hosting the competition, since Caf approached the NFA following the last-minute withdrawal of Gabon.
According to Delta state commissioner for Sport, Solomon Ogba, the state will go a step further than it did four years ago.
"Warri is Nigeria's home of female football and it's an honour for us to host the championship again," Ogba told BBC Sport.
Eight countries are due to take part with the two finalists qualifying for the 2007 Fifa women's championship to be held in China.
Posted by Publisher at July 7, 2006 01:50 PM
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