Fans and enthusiasts of women's football has frowned at the decision of the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) surprise announcement of Osun state as the host for the 2024 Championship.
News went wide that the state will host the 2024 NWFL Championship where two teams will gain promotion to the top flight Premiership.
The bone of contention is the fact that enthusiasts wonder the pitch where the tournament will be hosted in the state.
Reactions on Soccer Queens, a foremost women's Football WhatsApp group, show a total rejection of Osun State as host for the NWFL Championship.
Some of the comments read: "With which stadium?"
"Ejigbo Township stadium is available as the landlord"
"Primary school field dey"
Reports have it that Osogbo township stadium is under renovation and not fit to host any league as at present.
Begging questions to be addressed by the NWFL:
Does the NWFL award hosting rights to the highest bidder without consideration of the facility on ground. ? Will all the matches be played on one pitch ? what is the rationale behind the choice of Osun State by the NWFL? what were the parameters considered for this? Does Osun State has facilities that can project the standard of NWFL Championship matches positively?
Most stakeholders have anticipated Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne, which hosted last season's NWFL Championship, where Dannaz Ladies, Remo Stars Ladies, Ekiti Queens and Sunshine Queens gained promotion to the NWFL Premiership.
Remo Stars Stadium has facilities that can accommodate 4 matches consecutively.
When Ijebu Ode in Ogun State hosted the Championship in 2021 and 2022, two pitches hosted consecutive games.
About 19 teams have registered for the 2023/2024 NWFL Championship season with a kick off date to be announced soon.
To host the NWFL Championship, there must be enough stadias to host about five to ten games within two days based on the number of teams expected to participate in the Championship.
As the public await the official announcement of the host for the Championship, women's football enthusiasts as stakeholders expect the league to make crucial decision for the good of the cadre which feeds the top flight.
