McKenzie warns against disrespecting womens football amid WAFCON uncertainty

Speaking at his department’s press conference in Pretoria on Wednesday, McKenzie described the uncertainty surrounding the tournament's hosting as “a shame” and disrespectful to women’s football on the continent.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from 17 March to 3 April, but Morocco has reportedly indicated to CAF that they are not ready to host it....

CAF President Patrice Motsepe recently made it clear during the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Tanzania that postponing the tournament would not be ideal.

The competition serves as a qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil and is also the only international window available this year that is long enough to accommodate the WAFCON tournament.

McKenzie says that if Morocco’s decision to cast uncertainty over WAFCON is to embarrass Motsepe, it’s not going to work...

"I'll make it clear that if Morocco is going to host AFCON, let them do so we shall support them, but if they are not going to do that, they must tell us now!

"If they are not ready, we want to tell them; we are not the country with no stadiums, we are not the country with no infrastructure and we as South Africa will never be held hostage by countries that have less than what we have.

"We will wait for nobody, and we won't allow our women and women football to be treated in such a fashion."

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McKenzie says the situation has left African football authorities in a difficult position, adding that the continent cannot continue to be “held to ransom” over the uncertainty.

Last month, after learning that Morocco might not be ready to host, CAF began exploring alternatives and approached several member associations to assess their readiness to stage the tournament on short notice.

SAFA was among those contacted and began engaging with the government to determine whether the country could step in if required.

Morocco’s difficulties with hosting WAFCON reportedly emerged following the Africa Cup of Nations tournament they staged between December and January.

The hosts were also beaten in the ill-tempered final by Senegal, a result that McKenzie questioned, asking whether the broader African football community was now paying the price for Morocco’s frustrations following that defeat...

"The situation surrounding the WAFCON is deeply concerning, and we must not be scared to ask difficult questions that many people are thinking but they are not willing to say it out loud, but I'm going to say it.

"Are we now all going to suffer because Senegal won the mens AFCON. If Senegal lost that AFCON final would we still be sitting with this uncertainty. Let me be clear, it was a great match but Morocco must accept that a game of football is just a game at the end. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

"That match was decided by the smallest of margins, and no country should be judged for losing a football match but the country should be judged on how it responds afterwards."