Bless Zoshe
Buea, Cameroon
Queen Victoria Girls of Limbe will represent the Southwest Region in the 2013 National Zonal Championship in Feminine football.
This was after they emerged champions of a triangular tournament organized recently at the Molyko Omni sport Stadium Buea.
Muyuka Ladies team
The Limbe club beat their two opponents; Muyuka Ladies and Buea United Girls on an identical 3 – 0 score. Meanwhile, Buea United Girl ended on the second spot after taking their revenge on Muyuka Ladies 5 – 0.
Despite their qualification, the president of Queen Victoria, and coach of the club, Aurix Ireneh watered down the importance of the tournament, having been the champion for several years running.
“It is a normal tournament because I have been plying it. So, I don’t evaluate it as a high tournament. The performance of my players is still below average, we are going to train harder to catch up with the other teams at the Zonal Championship,” he said.
Pre match Check up
Asked about their perpetual poor showing at the national level, Ireneh blamed the situation on inexperienced players and poor preparation due to lack of support from the region.
“I am the only one in the whole of Southwest. I have been there since 1994, but no one is willing to support me. When I write appeal letters, no one is willing to help. I am just struggling, and that is why I cannot afford good players,” Ireneh lamented.
Notwithstanding, Queen Victoria Limbe run the risk of losing their first position, after one of their opponents; Buea United Girls filed a technical protest against them on grounds that the Limbe side played without any official document.
Nkengafe Prudecia, President SW Feminine Football
According to the coach of Buea United, Njoku Barnabas, although the tournament is a laudable attempt to promote feminine football in the region, it is unacceptable and discouraging to encourage clubs to play without fulfilling the basic requirements.
“It is a good tournament to encourage feminine football in the region, at least for the young players to show what they are capable of. In the near future, we are sure to have talented players from this region.
The only problem is that business is business. You cannot present a team without any official document from the federation.
Queen Victoria presented their team without any official document, so we don’t know who is who. Maybe they have taken players from different regions, and who have contracts with different clubs, we don’t know. It is very discouraging.
If they allowed them to play, it is just because the regulation states that you cannot stop a team from playing. Rather, they should play, then the opponents can write a protest, and that is what we have just done.
Njoku Barnabas - Coach Buea United Girls
The regulation states that at first, you could write a qualification protest only at the beginning of the match or at half time. But now things have changed. You can write your qualification protest even after the match. We have written, and we are pleading that the federation should treat us accordingly, and should respect the rules and regulations of football,” Njoku complained.
For her part, the Regional President of Feminine Football Nkengafe Prudencia has promised to sanction the Queen Victoria side, and particularly the coach.
“I will sanction him. You cannot be playing without any backing document. I called Fecafoot, and they told me only two teams had the required documents. So coming without any licence and no checklist means he is not qualified, and this has been happening for the past years. This time, things have changed,” the president said.
Nevertheless, players of all three participating clubs were delighted to have been part of the rendez-vous. This was particularly the case with the University of Buea feminine football team, who used the tournament as preparation for the All University Games, billed for Ngaoundere this April.
