West African Football Union

West African Football Union
	Zone A Zone B
Formation	1975; 47 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	http://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]

(1975–1977)
(1977–1984)
(1984–1988)
(1988–1994)
(1994–1999)
Abdulmumini Aminu (1999–2002)
(2002–2004)
Jacques Anouma (2004–2008)^[2]
Amos Adamu (2008–2010)
Kwesi Nyantakyi (2011–present)

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."^[3]^[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[]

Competition	Year	Champions	Title(s)	Runners-up	Next edition
National teams (Men's)
WAFU Cup of Nations	2019	Senegal	1st	Ghana
Zone A U-20 Championship	2020	Senegal	1st	Mali
Zone B U-20 Championship	2020	Ghana	1st	Burkina Faso
	2018	Senegal	1st	Guinea
	2018	Nigeria	1st	Ghana
	^[4]	GA GB			TBA
National teams (Women's)
Zone A Women's Cup	2020	Senegal	2nd	Mali
Zone B Women's Cup	2019	Nigeria	1st	Ivory Coast
WAFU U20 Women's Cup					TBA
Clubs (Women's)
	2021	AS Mandé	1st		TBA
	2021	Hasaacas Ladies F.C.	1st	Rivers Angels F.C.	TBA

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.^[5]

WAFU	FIFA	Country	Points	+/−
1	20	Senegal	1546
2	35	Nigeria	1481	1
3	51	Ghana	1426
4	56	Ivory Coast	1392
5	59	Mali	1386	2
6	60	Burkina Faso	1378	1
7	77	Cape Verde	1319	1
8	78	Guinea	1317	4
9	82	Benin	1293	1
10	117	Sierra Leone	1167
11	123	Guinea-Bissau	1155
12	124	Togo	1140
13	152	Liberia	1047
14	166	Gambia	990

Last updated 24 October 2019

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.
^ "West African Football Union (Wafu) disbanded by Caf". British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC.co.uk. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
^ "ZONE OUEST A – U15 2021". zoneouesta.org. zoneouesta.org. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
^ "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 – official website

[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.

[WAFU_split-3] "West African Football Union (Wafu) disbanded by Caf". British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC.co.uk. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.

[Zone_Ouesta-4] "ZONE OUEST A – U15 2021". zoneouesta.org. zoneouesta.org. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.

[5] "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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