The bonus is huge, the audience is small, and the facilities are limited: African and South American women s football teams are in a dilemma of attention and rights!

When the Nigerian Women's Football Team and the Algerian Women's Football Team recently met in the key African Cup group stage in Casablanca, Morocco, the public's attention can only be described as "stubborn". Only about 500 fans were present to watch the final round of the Group B showdown in the newly renovated Arabi Zaulli Stadium, which can accommodate 30,000 spectators. Although both teams were fighting for advance to the quarterfinals, they finally shook hands 0-0.

African women's football team is still in its infancy. The African Women’s Football Championship (Women’s African Cup) was first held in 1998 as the African version of the Women’s Football European Cup. Initially, the event was only used as a World Cup qualifier and it did not begin to award trophys to the champions until 2016.

Nigeria: Years of domination have challenged

Nigeria has long nearly monopolized the African women's football field: in 12 events, the West African team won nine championships and reached the finals again in this event. However, the pattern is gradually changing, which is mainly due to the strong investment in the development of women's football in recent years by countries such as Morocco.

15 years ago, at the direct instruction of the Moroccan royal family, the government launched a unique women's football support program in Africa. At that time, in Sarah Aljadida, a suburb of Rabat, the modern Mohammed VI Football Academy was built with royal funds. This 2.5 square kilometers training center provides top-notch training conditions for 50 young and young players for both men and women.

Morocco: Women's football support has yielded fruits

These infrastructures have been fully used for the development of women's football, and the results are obvious to all: Morocco reached the final for the first time in the 2022 African Cup (the event was also held in Morocco), and lost to South Africa only 1-2; in this event, the Moroccan women's football team advanced to the final again, but Nigeria finally won the championship.

African Women's Football Championship Champions: 1998 Nigeria, 2000 Nigeria, 2002 Nigeria, 2004 Nigeria, 2006 Nigeria, 2008 Equatorial Guinea, 2010 Nigeria, 2012 Equatorial Guinea, 2014 Nigeria, 2016 Nigeria, 2018 Nigeria, 2022 South Africa, 2025 Nigeria.

However, the overall development of the African women’s football team is still lagging behind in comparison to Europe: Although the total prize money of this event (which was postponed to 2025 due to the 2024 Olympics) doubled to $3.75 million, it still pales in comparison to the 47.8 million European Cup of the European Women’s Football Championship. It is worth mentioning that the opening match of this event (Morocco vs. Zambia) has been broadcasted by at least 5 TV stations in Africa.

However, the number of spectators in the arena is still bleak: only the host Morocco game can attract more spectators, and other games are almost played in a "closed" state.

South American Women's Football Team: Brazil's battle of dominance and recognition

is similar to Nigeria's status in Africa, and the Brazilian women's football team has long dominated the South American arena. In the Women’s Copa America, Brazil won eight championships in nine matches, with Argentina taking the championship from the Brazilian women’s football team led by superstar Mata in 2006.

The 2025 South American Women's Copa America is held in Ecuador, and the semi-finals will be held in Brazil against Uruguay and Argentina against Colombia.

The right to use the arena is restricted

In South America, the women's football team also faces the dilemma of winning recognition and respect. Brazilian midfielder Ali Borges said angrily after a 6-0 victory over Bolivia in the group stage: "Even men's amateur football conditions are better than us." The reason for her anger was that in order to protect the lawn of Ripalda Stadium in Quito, the team could only warm up in the narrow space of the underground passage of the court before the game was opened, and they could not step on the lawn until the game kicked off. This is directly related to the arrangement of the event using only 3 stadiums but having to play more than 20 games.

Like Africa, South American women's football team also faces serious recognition problems. Except for Ecuador or neighboring Colombia, the other games are almost empty. The Uruguay Women's Football Team even needs players to reach an emergency agreement with the Football Association to participate in this event - the players went on strike before the game, and they did not go to Ecuador to participate after making many concessions in improving training conditions.

South America Women's Cup Cup Champions League: 1991 Brazil, 1995 Brazil, 1998 Brazil, 2003 Brazil, 2006 Argentina, 2010 Brazil, 2014 Brazil, 2018 Brazil, 2022 Brazil.

Controversy: South America has no VAR technology

South America Women's Football Team also envies European conditions. Although the Chilean women's football team was at the forefront of the group stage and performed well, they eventually lost due to missed opportunities and controversial penalty. Colombian referee Maria Victoria Dasa became the focus of criticism for Chilean players, who complained about the lack of video assistant referee (VAR) technology in the game, which affected the key penalty.

Chile midfielder Yanara Edo bluntly criticized the South American Football Association in the post-match interview area: "No VAR is a manifestation of disrespect. The Women's Football European Cup is being held at the same time, and it is embarrassing to watch the European Cup and look at our events." The 31-year-old emphasized: "Women's football players should be treated equally as men's football. The organizers must take action because we are players like men's football."