DR Congo women's football championship

DR Congo women's football championship

Founded	2008;16 years ago (2008)
Country	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Confederation	CAF
Number of teams	26
Level on pyramid	1
International cup(s)	CAF Champions League
Current champions	TP Mazembe (2nd title) (2022–23)
Most championships	OCL City (5 titles)

The Congolese Women's Championship or Ligue nationale de Football féminin, abbreviated as LINAFF, is a Congolese women's football competition organized by the Congolese Association Football Federation (FECOFA).

Despite being established in 2008, this national-scale competition faces challenges in gaining widespread popularity in a vast country where local and provincial women's football championships remain highly popular. The competition takes place annually from May to June and involves a championship format where the champions of different provincial women's football commissions compete. At the end of the season, the top team is crowned champion and qualifies for the CAF Women's Champions League.

The Olympique Club Lubumbashi City, also known as "OCL City," from the province of Haut-Katanga (formerly Katanga), holds the most titles in this competition, having won five (5) titles since its inception in 2008. ^[1]

History

During the first four editions of the Congolese national women's football championship (2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011), the provincial associations and commissions competed to determine the winning province in this annual competition. It was only from the year 2012 that teams from different urban associations and provincial commissions started competing in their respective provinces to qualify for the "Coupe du Congo féminine," organized by the national women's football league "LINAFF."

Since 2008, five clubs have won the championship: the most successful being Olympique Club Lubumbashi City (5 titles), followed by Bafana Bafana, Attaque sans recul, FCF Amani de Kinshasa, and FCF Mazembe de Lubumbashi, each with 1 title.

Starting from 2022, the winner of this competition qualifies for the CAF Women's Champions League. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was represented for the first time by FCF Amani from the city of Kinshasa, the winner of the 12th edition of the championship, in the CAF Women's Champions League. However, the team was eliminated during the 2021 CAF Women's Champions League UNIFFAC Qualifiers.

In the following year, TP Mazembe (champion of the 13th edition of the national women's championship) succeeded FCF Amani and played the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League UNIFFAC Qualifiers, which they won, securing their place in the final phase of the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Their first participation proved successful as they qualified for the final of the UNIFFAC qualifiers by defeating CECUS FC from Chad with a convincing 4–0 victory. In the group stage of the CAF Women's Champions League, TP Mazembe started well with a 1–0 victory against Wadi Degla (Egypt), thanks to an early goal scored by Merveille Kanjinga. In the second match, however, Mazembe suffered a 2–0 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns, which put them in 3rd place in Group B. Bayelsa Queens emerged as the top team with 9 points, followed by Bayelsa Queens with 6 points, while TP Mazembe had 3 points and Wadi Degla remained scoreless. Despite their efforts, Mazembe couldn't overcome the Sundowns' defense and suffered a 4–0 loss. Nonetheless, the team made a remarkable debut in the competition.

The 14th edition of the championship was organized in the Haut-Katanga province (Lubumbashi). Two stadiums, Stade TP Mazembe and Stade Gaëtan Kakudji, were selected for the organization of the national women's championship, while Stade Kibasa Maliba was closed for rehabilitation to meet CAF standards for approval. Due to organizational and financial issues, some clubs did not participate in the 14th edition of the national women's championship, held in Lubumbashi from May 25 to June 25, 2023. Teams from Kinshasa, including FCF Amini, CSF Bikira, CFF Don Bosco, and Espoir de Kinshasa, decided not to take part in this edition, and some teams from other regions couldn't afford to travel to Lubumbashi due to financial constraints. On the other hand, TP Mazembe de Lubumbashi, the champion of the urban women's football association in Lubumbashi, the provincial commission of Haut-Katanga, and the 13th edition of the Coupe du Congo féminine, bid farewell to the competition after two consecutive defeats.

Clubs

2023-24 Season

Twenty six teams were selected for the competition, representing ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Three groups have been formed, two with 10 teams each, and another with 6 teams. ^[2]

Group A Club Provinces TP Mazembe Haut-Katanga JSK Lualaba Manika Lualaba Lusenda Giris Kivu DC Bweremana Kivu Fondation Jacques Kyabula Katwe Haut-Katanga AS Kabasha Kivu FCF Mazembe Kasaï Central FCF Lupopo Haut-Katanga

Group B Club Provinces FCF Tosepela Ituri FCF Force des filles Kivu 31ème CPC Kasaï Central FCF Amani Kinshasa DCMP Bikira Haut-Katanga FCF Okapi Kivu Ituri FC Ituri FCF Mabanga Ituri Soleil de l’Est Kivu Muselamayi Kasaï Central

Group C Club Provinces OCK de Kasaji Lualaba Sainte Marie de Lulua Kasaï Central CSF Bikira Kinshasa Inter Star de la Tshopo Tshopo ASF Espoir de Kinshasa Kinshasa CFF Don Bosco Kinshasa

Champions

Season	Champion	Runner-up
2008	Nord-Kivu	Kinshasa
2009	Kinshasa	Nord-Kivu
2010	Kinshasa	Nord-Kivu
2011	Katanga
2012	OCL City
2013	OCL City	Bafana Bafana
2014	OCL City	Attaque sans recul
2015	OCL City	Attaque sans recul
2016	Attaque sans recul	OCL City
2017	Bafana Bafana	DCMP/Bikira
2018	Cancelled
2019	OCL City	Espoir de Bandal
2020	Cancelled
2021	FC Amani	CFS Bikira
2022	TP Mazembe	CFS Bikira
2023	TP Mazembe	DC Bweremana
2024	TP Mazembe	FC Amani

References

1. "DR Congo - List of Women Champions". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
2. "RDC-14ème championnat national de football féminin : la composition des groupes est connue". infosdirect.net. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.