Equatorial Guinea,Nigerian footballers caught up in gender row
November 27th, 2010 - 7:37 pm ICT by ANILondon, Nov.27 (ANI): To field one man in a women’s football team may be regarded as unfortunate. To field two looks like carelessness, or blatant cheating.
This is the accusation levelled at Equatorial Guinea, the tiny west African country, with a population of 650,000, reports the Guardian.
Several rival teams in the recent African women’s championship complained that two of its players - the captain, Genoveva Anonma, and a striker, Salimata Simpore - had one Y chromosome too many.
According to the paper, African football’s governing body is investigating claims that one player who lined up in this month’s final is a man. It is not clear whether this refers to Anonma or Simpore.
The inquiry follows a complaint by the Nigerian Football Federation over “the gender status” of a player.
“The protest is on. We have lodged our protest with CAF [the Confederation of African Football],” NFF spokesman Robinson Okosun, was quoted, as saying.
Equatorial Guinea, one of the smallest countries in Africa, saw off opposition including the hosts, South Africa, on their way to the final and qualification for the women’s World Cup.
Okusun said that the CAF sports medicine committee would provide further information on this case as soon as some other details emerge.
For the record, Nigeria beat Equatorial Guinea, the defending champions, 4-2 in the final. Both go through to the World Cup in Germany next June and July. (ANI)
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