The 2002 WAFU Nations Cup was the first edition of the

WAFU Nations Cup The WAFU Nations Cup (also known as the WAFU Cup of Nations or simply the WAFU Cup) is an association football competition that is contested by representative teams of the West African Football Union. History A trophy was commissioned by Presiden ...

tournament for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

leagues in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, but was affected by the outbreak of a civil war in the country.

Overview

The tournament featured players from local leagues only. The qualifying phase was completed from 7 April to 7 July 2001. The final phase was originally scheduled to be played in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, from 28 September to 7 October 2001. The beginning of the tournament was first postponed to October, however, after the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...

had refused to give approval of the initial date due to claims it was being played too close to the start of the

2002 African Cup of Nations The 2002 African Cup of Nations was the 23rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Mali. Just like in 2000, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Ca ...

(set to kick off on 19 January 2002). After WAFU argued that their tournament was for home-based players only, approval was obtained, and the tournament then moved to

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

, to be held in October 2001. It was then postponed again because the main sponsors, TV Africa, pulled out. The tournament was finally arranged for 18 to 29 September 2002, to be held in Ivorian cities

and

Bouaké Bouaké (or Bwake, N'Ko script, N’ko: ߓߐ߰ߞߍ߫ ''Bɔ̀ɔkɛ́'') is the second-largest list of cities in Ivory Coast, city in Ivory Coast, with a population of 740,000 (2021 census). It is the seat of three levels of subdivisions of Ivory ...

, with the latter venue being added at the last moment. Unfortunately, one day into the tournament on 19 September, the

First Ivorian Civil War The First Ivorian Civil War was a Civil war, civil conflict in the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) that began with a Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast, military rebellion on 19 September 2002 and ended with a peace agreement on 4 March 20 ...

broke out, leading to an indefinite postponement of the competition with the teams stranded in the country. The teams lodged in Bouaké were trapped there for over a week before being able to leave. Following this, the tournament would eventually be cancelled. Eight years later, the first successful WAFU Nations Cup would be staged in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Cancelled matches

Eight teams were planned to participate in the final tournament. The groups were: * Group A:

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

* Group B:

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

Only two matches in the tournament were played, both on 18 September 2002: Senegal 1–0 Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast 5–0 Gambia. All further matches were cancelled due to the civil war.

References

External links

RSSSF archives coverage
{{WAFU Nations Cup WAFU Nations Cup Cancelled association football competitions